Government to soon release norms for offering foreign exchange credit to exporters at affordable rates

Amid a persistent decline in export credit, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said the government would soon announce guidelines for extending foreign exchange credit to exporters. Such foreign exchange loans will be made available to exporters at very competitive rates, likely to be lower than even 4%, he said.

Addressing the Board of Trade meeting here, Goyal said: “We are concerned that it (export credit) has fallen, and (we) will come up with the contours of a vibrant programme soon, which will particularly support micro, small and medium enterprises.”

The bankers are on board and “…we shall shortly be coming out with the contours that have been finalised between the RBI, the finance ministry and the commerce ministry,” Goyal said. Outstanding export credit dropped 23% in the last fiscal to Rs 9.57 lakh crore, from Rs 12.39 lakh crore a year earlier. Amid renewed focus on protecting the domestic industry from irrational surge in imports, the commerce ministry would notify new anti-dumping rules this month, Goyal said.