□ The Export-Import Bank of Korea (www.koreaexim.go.kr, Chairman Yoon Hee-sung, “Korea Eximbank") announced it signed an Interbank Finance Agreement with HDFC Bank in India for a 0.3 billion US dollar line of credit, on April 11.

ㅇ HDFC Bank is the largest private sector bank in India, established in 1994. 

□ Korea Eximbank’s Director General of Interbank Finance Department Lee Choun-jae and HDFC Bank Group Head Arup Rakshit met at GIFT City, India on April 11 to sign the agreement.

 * Interbank Finance : Finance package offered by Korea Eximbank to foreign banks in the form of a credit line that can be utilized as loans with favorable conditions to their  clients, who are business partners with Korean companies.

 ㅇ With the agreement, Korea Eximbank’s interbank credit line in India has increased to a total of 3.8 billion US dollars* with four financial institutions. 

  * 2.1 billion US dollars with SBI, 1.3 billion US dollars with ICICI BANK, 0.1 billion US dollars with Axis BANK

□ India is both Korea’s 8th largest export destination and 22nd largest recipient of foreign direct investment as of 2022. Furthermore, it is a strategic market where Korean companies are expanding their business.

  ㅇ India is posting robust growth rates of 7~8% since the COVID-19 pandemic. 

□ As Korea Eximbank signed the agreement with HDFC Bank, it is expected that Korea companies’ exports, direct investments, and sales in India will increase significantly, backed by strong local demands in the automobile and electronics sectors.

□ An official of Korea Eximbank said, “the interbank finance, to be provided in the form of installment financing through HDFC Bank, would help Korean companies expand their market share in the automobiles and other locally manufactured products in India. Furthermore, it will greatly help Korean SMEs enter the Indian markets, by providing them with facility and general operating funds. 

 * HDFC Bank would utilize the interbank finance to provide installment financing to its Indian customers who purchase automobiles produced by Korea.