<p><em><strong>By Anurag Joshi</strong></em><br /> </p>.<p>Indian firms facing record debt repayments and one of Asia’s worst economic slumps may be catching a break as demand rebounds for corporate dollar loans in the region.</p>.<p>Dollar-denominated loans signed by Indian companies recovered to $3.4 billion in the September quarter, from the lowest since 2009 in the previous three months amid the pandemic, according to Bloomberg-compiled data. And in a sign that lenders are willing to earn less extending credit to those firms, average margins on U.S. currency loans fell to the least this year in the July-September period.</p>.<p>India’s economy has been hit especially hard by the Covid-19 outbreak and the world’s biggest lockdown, with analysts forecasting the sharpest annual economic contraction among Asia-Pacific nations. Even as domestic demand totters, the nation’s companies need to repay a record $16.3 billion of foreign-currency bonds and loans in the current quarter, and improved access to the dollar loan market boosts a key funding source for that.</p>.<p>Banks have become more willing to lend to firms in other parts of the region as well. Dollar loan volumes in North Asia rebounded last quarter from a nine-year low in the April-June period, while those for Southeast Asia jumped from the least since 2012 in the same period, according to Bloomberg-compiled data.</p>.<p>Indian deals last quarter included a $500 million term loan of state-controlled Export-Import Bank of India. It got the most lender commitments in syndication among the nation’s overseas loans this year, in a sign that many global investors are eager to lend in India, especially if the target is a solid credit like a quasi-sovereign issuer.</p>
<p><em><strong>By Anurag Joshi</strong></em><br /> </p>.<p>Indian firms facing record debt repayments and one of Asia’s worst economic slumps may be catching a break as demand rebounds for corporate dollar loans in the region.</p>.<p>Dollar-denominated loans signed by Indian companies recovered to $3.4 billion in the September quarter, from the lowest since 2009 in the previous three months amid the pandemic, according to Bloomberg-compiled data. And in a sign that lenders are willing to earn less extending credit to those firms, average margins on U.S. currency loans fell to the least this year in the July-September period.</p>.<p>India’s economy has been hit especially hard by the Covid-19 outbreak and the world’s biggest lockdown, with analysts forecasting the sharpest annual economic contraction among Asia-Pacific nations. Even as domestic demand totters, the nation’s companies need to repay a record $16.3 billion of foreign-currency bonds and loans in the current quarter, and improved access to the dollar loan market boosts a key funding source for that.</p>.<p>Banks have become more willing to lend to firms in other parts of the region as well. Dollar loan volumes in North Asia rebounded last quarter from a nine-year low in the April-June period, while those for Southeast Asia jumped from the least since 2012 in the same period, according to Bloomberg-compiled data.</p>.<p>Indian deals last quarter included a $500 million term loan of state-controlled Export-Import Bank of India. It got the most lender commitments in syndication among the nation’s overseas loans this year, in a sign that many global investors are eager to lend in India, especially if the target is a solid credit like a quasi-sovereign issuer.</p>
