Piling foreign debt

New ECB norms can make India more vulnerable to external shocks

The revised norms for end-use of money raised through external commercial borrowings (ECBs), announced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday, have brought in significant changes. Under the new norms, ECBs with a minimum average maturity period of 10 years can be used for working capital and general corporate purposes as also by non-banking finance companies for on-lending. The RBI, in consultation with the central government, has also permitted firms to raise ECBs for repaying rupee loans taken from domestic sources for capital expenditure in the infrastructure and manufacturing sectors, classified as SMA-2 or non-performing asset (NPA), in order