NRI deposits swell by $13.71 bn in November

The Reserve Bank of India raised around $25 bn under the swap window facility, which was open till November 30
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India’s efforts to attract foreign exchange has paid off, with remittances from non-resident Indians (NRIs) touching $13.71 billion in November.

NRI deposits rose in September to $96.25 billion. Under foreign currency non-resident — banks [FCNR(B)] category, they stood at $38.62 billion at end of November, up from $24.70 billion in October, according to RBI data.

Bankers said the swap facility for FCNR(B) deposits did attract money from overseas Indians.

In August and September 2013

, the RBI took many steps to attract NRI deposits.
On September 4, RBI decided to offer banks a window to swap fresh FCNR(B) dollar funds.

Under the window, banks could swap fresh FCNR(B) dollar funds (deposits with a maturity period of at least three years) at a fixed rate of 3.5 per cent a year. The swap window was open till November 30. The RBI raised about $25 billion under this facility in three months.

The other two categories

of NRI deposits — NRE and NRO — saw net outflows in November.
The outstanding NRE deposit base was $ 49.06 billion ($ 49.21 billion in October) and NRO - $ 8.57 billion ($ 8.62 billion in October).

Meanwhile, the central bank sold net $ 10.08 billion in November. It’s outstanding net forward sales at the end of November stood at $ 32.54 billion, up from $ 14.45 billion at end of October.