New Delhi, Aug 8 (IANS): The special liquidity scheme (SLS) for NBFCs and HFCs has received a positive response from the financial sector with 15 proposals involving an amount of Rs 6,399 crore already sanctioned upto August 7.

The Rs 30,000 crore liquidity window for NBFCs and HFCs is being implemented from July 1 as a follow up of one of the announcements under the Atmanirbhar Bharat package made by the Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman on May 13.

The scheme has been launched to improve the liquidity position of NBFCs/HFCs through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to avoid any potential systemic risks to the financial sector.

As on August 7, 15 proposals with a total amount of Rs 6,399 crore have already been sanctioned while 37 more applications seeking financing up to Rs 11,037 crore are under process, the office of finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a tweet.

The scheme is being implemented by SLS Trust, the SPV set up by SBI Capital Markets Limited (SBICAP). Any NBFC including microfinance institutions registered with the RBI excluding those registered as Core Investment Companies and any HFC registered with the National Housing Bank (NHB) which is complying with certain specified conditions are eligible to raise funding from this facility.

The scheme will remain open for 3 months for making subscriptions by the Trust.

It permits both primary and secondary market purchases of debt and seeks to address the short-term liquidity issues of NBFCs/HFCs. Therefore, those market participants who are looking to exit their standard investments with a residual maturity of 90 days can also approach the SLS Trust.

In its latest monetary policy review , the RBI has provided additional funds to NBFCs, MFIs and housing finance by opening an additional special liquidity facility of Rs 10,000 crore to the National Housing Bank (NHB) and the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).

--IANS

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