Nhb Swarna Bonds Fully Subscribed

The Swarna Jayanti Rural Housing Finance Bonds (tax-free) issued by the National Housing Bank (NHB) aggregating Rs 100 crore on July 24 has been fully subscribed, a company official said.

NHB has also launched `Priority Sector Taxable Bonds' aggregating Rs 100 crore, with a greenshoe option of another Rs 100 crore. The bonds, issued on private placement basis, carry a coupon of 12.5 per cent per annum payable every six months, and have a maturity of seven years with a put and call option at the end of five years.

The special features of the Priority Sector Bonds are that investments by banks in these bonds will be eligible for inclusion under their advances to the priority sector, as per the guidelines of the RBI .The investment in these bonds will also qualify under RBI housing finance allocation to the banks, up to 1.5 per cent of their incremental deposits.

The bonds are being issued for augmenting the resources of NHB and the proceeds thereof will be utilised for providing housing finance to eligible institutions.

At the end of June 1998, the cumulative refinance assistance of NHB to eligible primary lenders stands at Rs 3,627 crore.