ICICI Bank eyes $500 million dollar bond issue via GIFT City

ICICI Bank is set to raise at least 500 million dollars through five-year dollar bonds via its GIFT City IFSC unit, marking its first US dollar bond issuance in nearly a decade. The bonds are expected to be priced at 90-95 basis points over US Treasuries, with proceeds used to support client financing using the RBI's concessional swap facility that allows hedging at 1.5 percent annually. The move follows similar issuances by HDFC Bank (750 million dollars) and Axis Bank (800 million dollars), with Indian banks collectively mobilising 20.7 billion dollars under the RBI special incentive window within six weeks.