NEW DELHI : Export-Import Bank of India is committed to empowering Indian businesses by expanding exports to new markets, and it aims to collaborate with existing ones to foster growth amid economic slowdown and geopolitical challenges, a senior official said recently.

The external trade-focused bank does not see any concern so far for its exposure in Canada, and the situation has the attention of the government, the official said.

“With the economic slowdown in the key markets, the bank is focusing on trade facilitation measures to boost exports in new markets and help existing markets grow,” Export-Import Bank of India’s Deputy Managing Director Tarun Sharma was quoted as saying.

Asked about its strategy, Sharma explained that among its measures to boost exports, the bank is focusing on new emerging markets like African, Latin American and South

Asian markets are for incremental exports. In addition, GIFT City’s new subsidiary will also play a vital role in factoring overseas transactions.

The Export-Import Bank of India had forecast a 4.8 per cent decline in India’s total merchandise exports in Q2 (July-September) of FY24, shadowed by continued slowdown in select major trade partners, including advanced economies.

Under the Trade Assistance Programme (TAP), Export-Import Bank of India provides support through credit enhancement to trade instrument(s), thereby enhancing the capacity of commercial banks/financial institutions in India to support cross-border trade transactions, involving markets where trade lines are constrained or where the potential has not been harnessed.

Sharma informed that its newly established subsidiary Exim Finserve at the International Financial Services Centre in GIFT City, Gujarat, will have a long-term impact supporting the growth of exports from India.

“This month, we are doing our first set of transactions, exports happening to the United States, and we are again very confident that both the trade assistance program and factoring will cover the entire gamut of pre-finance services in India, both on documentary credit basis and open terms,” Sharma said.

With Exim Finserve, exporters can obtain receivables financing, protection against non-payment risk, and receivables management services. As a result, exporters will have improved cash flow and reduced payment risk, allowing them to explore new markets.

(Source – ET)