SREI Infrastructure raises lending rate by 50 bps

New Delhi, Dec 27 (UNI) SREI Infrastructure Finance Ltd today said it has raised its benchmark lending rate by 50 basis points to 11.5 per cent.

The change will be effective from January 1, 2007.

The company's Asset Liability Committee (ALCO) met last Saturday and after reviewing the likely increase in the borrowing costs, decided to increase the benchmark lending rate in line with the present trend of upward moving interest rates in the financial market, an official statement said.

''Even after the increase, we will continue to be very competitive in comparison with other banks which are active in the infrastructure financing market,'' company's Vice Chairman and Managing Director Hemant Kanoria said.

He added that the increase in rates is unlikely to affect the momentum of growth. This, he said, was clearly visible from the robust growth in disbursement volumes.

The company has touched nearly a billion dollars in assets under management. Besides growing its traditional areas of business such as road, power, ports, aviation and urban infrastructure sectors, it forayed successfully into funding infrastructure in the railway sector.

Mining is another area where the company has established a significant presence, the statement added.

SREI Infrastructure Finance Ltd, formerly SREI International Finance Ltd, is a national infrastructure equipment finance and infrastructure project finance company. It is one of the largest non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs) in the country with an asset base of more than Rs 4,000 crore.

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