The issue was priced at mid-swap plus 90 basis points (bps). Mid-swap is the equivalent of Libor (London Inter-Bank Offered Rate) for longer maturity bonds.

State Bank of India’s $5 billion MTN programme was launched in 2004. It targets investors, including banks, insurance companies, hedge funds and private equities in the global market.

The last such issue by State Bank of Indiawas in April 2008, to raise Rs 467 crore and it was the only issue in the year, after the liquidity crunch pushed spreads to 600 to 700 basis points over Libor for five-year bonds.

The five-year MTN issue was rated BBB- by Fitch. State Bank of India had designed the bond issue through the Reg-S route, which means it can target only non-US clients through the bond issue, to raise a maximum of $1 billion.