'Hike leverage ratio'

Citing the urgent need for turning the country into an export powerhouse and the prevalent practices in competing nations, the Exim Bank has requested the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to increase its leverage ratio so that it can lend more to the exporters.

Currently, RBI allows the Exim Bank to leverage only 10 times of its net-owned funds, which it wants to be hiked to at least 15 times.

"We are classified at par with a commercial bank under the RBI guidelines and can lend only 10 times our net owned funds, which restricts our capacity to help exporters," newly-appointed chairman and managing director Yaduvendra Mathur said.