International Finance Corporation extends $150 million social loan to State Bank of India for rural women

Key facts

• The International Finance Corporation (IFC) extended a $150 million social loan to State Bank of India, which represents its first-ever credit line to a public-sector bank.
• The transaction is expected to support nearly 8,64,000 rural women engaged in agriculture and allied activities across India.
• The social loan is designed to benefit women across agricultural value chains, including crop cultivation, animal husbandry, fisheries, and food processing.
• Nearly 90 per cent of the financing will be channeled through women-led Self-Help Groups (SHGs).
• The remaining funds will support women entrepreneurs under SBI’s Svayam Siddha Scheme.
• IFC and SBI signed a derivative partnership under an ISDA Master Agreement, making SBI IFC’s first domestic swap counterparty in India and South Asia.
• The swap arrangement is intended to strengthen IFC’s ability to source rupee-denominated funding and reduce foreign exchange risk for borrowers.