International Banking Statistics of India: September 2006*

The article presents international liabilities and assets of banks in India, classified under Locational Banking Statistics (LBS) and consolidated international/foreign claims under Consolidated Banking Statistics (CBS), compiled as per the International Banking Statistics system of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), for the quarter ended September 2006. These data are compared with those as at the end of the previous quarter and a year ago. The analysis of international liabilities/assets, based on LBS, has been presented by instrument, country and sector of customer/borrower, currency and country of incorporation of reporting bank; and the consolidated international claims, based on CBS, according to country and sector of borrower and residual maturity. Further, a broad comparison of international/foreign claims of BIS reporting banks vis-à-vis Indian Banks as at the end of September 2005 and 2006 has also been covered. Besides, this article details international/ foreign claims derived from on-balance sheet items, viz., loans and deposits, holdings of securities as well as off-balance sheet items, viz., derivatives, guarantees and credit commitments on ultimate risk basis.

* Prepared in the Banking Statistics Division of the Department of Statistical Analysis and Computer Services. The previous article on the subject as at end-June 2006 was published in January 2007 issue of the Bulletin.

I. Introduction

Eighty-five commercial and co-operative banks, which are authorised to deal in foreign exchange and accept non-resident deposits (Indian Rupee and foreign currencies), have furnished information under the International Banking Statistics (IBS) system, as per the reporting system of the BIS. These banks submit the consolidated data of their reporting branches/offices. The foreign branches of Indian Banks also submit data on international claims, which are included in the consolidated position of the Indian Banks’ international/foreign claims. The BIS reporting system of IBS has been revised from the reporting quarter March 2005, which, inter alia, covers the claims of domestic reporting banks arising from derivatives, guarantees and credit commitments. Accordingly, international/foreign claims on ultimate risk basis of domestic reporting banks for the quarter ended September 2006 have been compared with those of the previous quarter and a year ago in this article. A comparative picture of the CBS of the BIS reporting countries and CBS of India for the third quarter of 2006 with corresponding quarter of 2005 is also presented in the article@ .

II. Data Coverage and Methodology@@

The data cover authorized dealer (AD) branches of 85 reporting banks as at end-September 2006. Of these banks, 57 are Indian Banks (28 public sector banks including IDBI Ltd., 26 private sector banks and 3 co-operative banks) and 28 are foreign banks. The branches maintaining nonresident Rupee deposits like Non-Resident External Rupee (NRE) deposits and NonResident Ordinary (NRO) Rupee deposits are also covered. Further, banks’ branches report, inter alia, the detailed data on international liabilities and assets in actual currency [24 major foreign currencies and domestic currency (INR)] of transaction in IBS return. The international liabilities of banks covered in IBS (as defined by the BIS) and external debt reported by the banking sector in India are not strictly comparable, since certain items of liabilities, like, American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs), equity of banks held by non-residents, included in IBS, are not part of the external debt.

@ A brief outline of the BIS reporting system of IBS comprising LBS and CBS, purpose of IBS, BIS reporting area for IBS, the distinction/relation between IBS of India vis-à-vis external debt of India has been provided in the Article published in August 2006 issue of the RBI Bulletin.

@@ The methodology of compilation of LBS/CBS and explanation to various terms used in IBS has been provided in the article on the subject published in August 2006 issue of the RBI Bulletin.

III. The Results

III.1 Locational Banking Statistics (LBS)

International Liabilities/Assets

The international liabilities as well as the international assets of banks increased as at end-September 2006 over the previous quarter. However, the international liabilities of banks were almost double than their international assets (Chart 1). The mismatch between the two for banks in India could be attributed to deployment of the funds mobilized from abroad, in the domestic market in the domestic currency. The international liabilities of banks increased by Rs. 14,236 crore (4.4 per cent) and Rs. 46,127 crore (16.0 per cent) as at end-September 2006 over the position in the previous quarter and a year ago, respectively (Table 1). While the increase over previous quarter was mainly due to considerable increase in equities of banks held by non-residents and ADRs/GDRs, the increase over the position a year ago was mainly due to rise in equities of banks held by non-residents, ADRs/GDRs, foreign currency borrowings, FCNR(B) deposits and NRE deposits. The liabilities denominated in foreign currencies accounted for 50.6 per cent of the total international liabilities as at end-September 2006 registering a substantial decline over the share of 57.5 per cent a year ago. The decline in liabilities in foreign currencies was due to redemption of India Millennium Deposits (IMDs) in December 2005 and sizeable increase in rupee denominated equities of banks held by non-residents, thus, increasing the share of rupee liabilities towards non-residents.

The international assets increased by Rs. 8,787 crore (5.7 per cent) as at end-September 2006, over the position in the previous quarter. Though there was a decline in foreign currencies loans to residents, the growth was due to considerable increase in NOSTRO balances and/or placements held/ made abroad. The international assets denominated in foreign currencies accounted for 95.4 per cent of total international assets as at end-September 2006 as compared with 95.6 per cent in the previous quarter and 96.8 per cent a year ago.

International Liabilities Vs External Debt of Indian Banking System

Details of international liabilities, in US dollar terms, classified into items that are included under external debt statistics and those not covered under external debt statistics, are presented in Table 2. The external debt part of international liabilities of banks in India, which covers FCNR(B) Deposits, NR(E)R Deposits, foreign currency borrowings, Bonds, FII deposits, etc., declined by US $ 1 million over the position in the previous quarter and stood at US $ 54,743 million as at end-September 2006. Even after offsetting the impact of redemption of India Millennium Deposits (IMDs), external debt increased by US $ 266 million over the position a year ago. India’s external debt increased by US $ 4,313 million from US $ 132,203 million as at end-June 2006 to US $ 136,516 million as at end-September 20061 . Non-debt liabilities (American Depository Receipts, Global Depository Receipts, equities of banks held by non-residents and capital of foreign banks’ branches in India) increased by US $ 3,288 million in September 2006 over June 2006. Foreign currency liabilities towards residents increased to US $ 2,665 million as at end-September 2006 as compared with US $ 2,588 million in June 2006 and US $ 2,077 million a year ago.

International Liabilities Vs External Debt of Indian Banking System

Details of international liabilities, in US dollar terms, classified into items that are included under external debt statistics and those not covered under external debt statistics, are presented in Table 2. The external debt part of international liabilities of banks in India, which covers FCNR(B) Deposits, NR(E)R Deposits, foreign currency borrowings, Bonds, FII deposits, etc., declined by US $ 1 million over the position in the previous quarter and stood at US $ 54,743 million as at end-September 2006. Even after offsetting the impact of redemption of India Millennium Deposits (IMDs), external debt increased by US $ 266 million over the position a year ago. India’s external debt increased by US $ 4,313 million from US $ 132,203 million as at end-June 2006 to US $ 136,516 million as at end-September 20061 . Non-debt liabilities (American Depository Receipts, Global Depository Receipts, equities of banks held by non-residents and capital of foreign banks’ branches in India) increased by US $ 3,288 million in September 2006 over June 2006. Foreign currency liabilities towards residents increased to US $ 2,665 million as at end-September 2006 as compared with US $ 2,588 million in June 2006 and US $ 2,077 million a year ago.

Composition by Instruments

Major component-wise international liabilities of banks in India as at end-September 2006 are presented in Chart 2. ‘Deposits and loans’ accounted for the largest share at 79.4 per cent of total international liabilities of banks as at end-September 2006, however, it declined by 3.8 percentage points over the share in the previous quarter due to considerable increase in the share of ‘other international liabilities’ . The share of ‘own issues of debt securities’ showed a decline over the position a year ago due to redemption of IMDs in December 2005. The share of ‘other international liabilities’ in total international liabilities increased by 3.8 and 8.1 percentage points compared to(Statement I) its share in the previous quarter and a year ago, on account of significant increase in banks’ equity holding by nonresidents. It may be noted that the considerable increase in banks’ equity holding by non-residents during the quarter was mainly due to significant increase in the value of equity shares of some bank(s).

About 72.0 per cent of the total international liabilities as at end-September 2006 accounted for by only three components of international liabilities, viz.,

NRE Rupee deposits (32.2 per cent), Foreign Currency Borrowing (19.9 per cent) and FCNR(B) deposits (19.7 per cent) (Statement I). While 69.2 per cent of FCNR(B) deposits and 56.5 per cent of NRE Rupee deposits were mobilized from residents of the three countries, viz., the US, the UK and UAE, about 68.9 per cent of total foreign currency borrowings were made from the entities in the four countries, viz., the US (37.4 per cent), the UK (14.9 per cent), Singapore (9.9 per cent) and Germany (6.7 per cent) (Statement II).
  The ‘loans and deposits’ accounted for the highest share of 92.2 per cent (Chart 3) in total international assets of banks as at end-September 2006 registering a negligible decline of 0.2 percentage point over the share in the previous quarter (Statement I).  The share of ‘holdings of international debt securities’ increased as compared to its share in the previous quarter as well as a year ago. The share of ‘other international assets’, which includes investments made by banks in foreign equities and capital supplied to and profits receivable from foreign branches/ subsidiaries of Indian Banks, hovered around 6.4 per cent in various quarters covering period from September 2005 to September 2006.

About 88.2 per cent of the total international assets were composed of only three components of international assets, viz., foreign currency loans to residents (37.6 per cent), NOSTRO balances including placements abroad (28.7 per cent) and outstanding export bills (21.9 per cent) as at end-September 2006 (Statement I). While, about 74.0 per cent of the total NOSTRO balances were concentrated only in three countries [viz., the US (53.2 per cent), the UK (12.7 per cent) and Singapore (8.0 per cent)] as at end-September 2006, more than 60.0 per cent of the total outstanding export bills were spread over five countries [viz., the US (38.5 per cent), Hong Kong (6.6 per cent), UAE (6.0 per cent), the UK (5.6 per cent) and Italy (4.5 per cent)] (Statement III).

Composition by Currency

Currency composition of international liabilities for all sectors as at end-September 2006 showed that the liabilities in Indian Rupee accounted for the maximum share (49.4 per cent), followed by liabilities in the US dollar (39.0 per cent) and Pound Sterling (6.9 per cent). The Euro denominated liabilities accounted for a small share of 1.8 per cent during the quarter under reference (Chart 4, Table 3 and Statement IV). The significant increase in the share of liabilities in Indian Rupee, over the share a year ago, may be attributed to the redemption of IMDs in December 2005 and considerable increase in holding of equities of banks by non-residents.

With regard to currency composition of international assets for all sectors as at end-September 2006, the US dollar denominated assets continued to account for the maximum share (80.6 per cent), followed by Euro (4.9 per cent), Indian Rupee (4.6 per cent), and Pound Sterling (3.5 per cent) (Chart 5, Table 3 and Statement IV).

Composition by Sector

The sectoral composition of international liabilities of banks into “non-bank” sector increased over the period, correspondingly the share of “bank” sector declined. The ‘non-bank’ sector continued to hold major share and stood at 74.8 per cent as at end-September 2006 (Table 4).

As regards international assets, the share of ‘bank’ sector increased by 3.5 percentage points as at end-September 2006 over the share in the previous quarter due to considerable increase in NOSTRO balances and placements abroad and, correspondingly, the share of ‘non-bank’ sector declined. The currency and sector-wise composition of international liabilities and assets in greater detail are presented in Statement IV.

Composition by Country of Residence of Transacting Units

About 67.1 per cent of total international liabilities of banks were towards the transacting units (bank and non-bank sector) of six countries, viz., the USA (29.4 per cent), the UK (15.5 per cent), UAE (8.2 per cent), Mauritius (5.3 per cent), India (4.5 per cent) and Singapore (4.2 per cent) as at end-September 2006 (Chart 6 and Table 5). The share of international liabilities towards the UK and Mauritius increased in contrast to decline in share of the USA, UAE, India, and Singapore compared to their positions in the previous quarter.

In respect of international assets of banks as at end-September 2006, 78.1 per cent of total international assets concentrated in the five countries, viz., India (37.9 per cent), the USA (26.1 per cent), the UK (7.2 per cent), Singapore (4.1 per cent) and Hong Kong (2.8 per cent) (Chart 7 and  Table 5). The details of international liabilities and assets of banks in India, according to country of residence of transacting units, are presented in Statement V.

Composition by Country of Incorporation of Reporting Bank

The classification of international liabilities of banks according to their country of incorporation revealed that the Indian Banks accounted for the maximum share at 80.7 per cent as at end-September 2006, although it declined over the position a year ago. Banks incorporated in other countries, namely, the USA, Hong Kong, the UK and Netherlands had very low shares ranging between 2.0 per cent and 5.0 per cent (Table 6).

In the case of international assets, India accounted for the highest share (81.3 per cent), followed by the USA (5.9 per cent), the UK (2.9 per cent), Germany (2.7 per cent), Netherlands (2.4 per cent) and Hong Kong (2.2 per cent). These countries, together, covered 97.4 per cent of total international assets as at end-September 2006 (Table 6). Further details of international liabilities and assets of banks according to their country of incorporation are presented in Statement VI.

III.2 Consolidated Banking Statistics (CBS)

International/Foreign Claims

The CBS provides country-wise (immediate country risk exposure), residual maturity-wise and sector-wise classification of international claims of banks on countries other than India. It also provides consolidated country risk exposure on an ultimate risk basis, sector-wise classification of foreign claims (through on-balance-sheet items) and international claims arising from derivatives, guarantees and credit commitments. Data presented in the article are based on the data reported by branches of banks in India and foreign branches of Indian Banks.

Exposure/Claims on Immediate Risk Basis

Consolidated international claims of banks, based on immediate risk basis, on countries other than India as at end-September 2006, registered an increase of Rs. 15,371 crore and Rs. 47,769 crore over the position in the previous quarter and a year ago, respectively (Table 7).

Composition by Country of Residence of Transacting Unit - Immediate risk basis

Consolidated international claims of banks, classified according to country of immediate risk revealed that reporting banks’ claims on the USA accounted for the largest share (25.4 per cent), followed by the UK (14.6 per cent) and Singapore (6.2 per cent) as at end-September 2006 (Chart 8 and Table 7). The share of claims on the USA, the UK, Singapore, and UAE increased while that of the Germany and Hong Kong declined over the position in the previous quarter.

Composition by Residual Maturity-Immediate Risk Basis

Consolidated international claims of banks on immediate country risk basis, classified by their residual maturity, is presented in Table 8. The reporting banks continued to prefer short-term lending/ investment, since the short-term claims (claims with residual maturity up to one year) accounted for 75.1 per cent share of total international claims and the long-term claims accounted for 24.2 per cent share as at end-September 2006 (Table 8). Also, the share of ‘short-term’ claims increased marginally and, correspondingly, the share of ‘long-term’ claims declined over the position in the previous quarter. The details of consolidated international claims of banks according to residual maturity and country of immediate risk are provided in.
Statement VII

Composition by Sector – Immediate Risk Basis

Sectoral classification of consolidated international claims of banks on other countries, on immediate country risk basis is presented in Table 9. The share of ‘bank’  sector increased, due to increase in NOSTRO balances and placements abroad, by 2.6 percentage points as at end-September 2006 over the share in the previous quarter and, correspondingly the share of ‘non-bank private’ sector declined. The details of international claims of banks according to sector and country of immediate risk are presented in Statement VII.

Exposure/Claims on Ultimate Risk Basis

Consolidated foreign claims (international claims of Indian Banks including the claims of their foreign offices plus local claims in local currency of foreign offices of Indian Banks) of domestic banks on ultimate risk basis increased from Rs. 105,675 crore as at end-June 2006 to Rs. 118,295 crore as at end-September 2006 (Table 10). The consolidated contingent claims/exposure of Indian Banks, on countries other than India, arising from derivatives, guarantees and credit commitments as at end-September 2006 stood at Rs. 8,735 crore, Rs. 11,686 crore and Rs. 865 crore, respectively.

Composition by Country of Residence of Transacting Units: Ultimate Risk Basis
Consolidated foreign claims and claims arising from derivatives, guarantees and credit commitments of Indian Banks, classified according to country of ultimate risk are presented in Table 10. About 51 per cent of total consolidated foreign claims of Indian Banks were concentrated in five countries, viz., the USA (22.1 per cent), the UK (13.5 per cent), Germany (5.2 per cent), Canada (5.1 per cent) and Singapore (5.1 per cent). As regards consolidated international claims of Indian Banks arising from derivatives, France had the maximum share at 27.2 per cent, followed by the UK (17.4 per cent), Singapore (15.5 per cent) and the USA (6.9 per cent). In respect of consolidated international claims of Indian Banks arising from guarantees, the USA had the maximum share at 30.4 per cent, followed by Germany (9.4 per cent), China (7.0 per cent) and UAE (6.4 per cent). About 90 per cent claims arising from credit commitments were concentrated in five countries, viz., the USA (60.7 per cent), France (15.7 per cent), the UK (6.0 per cent), Singapore (5.5 per cent) and Canada (2.2 per cent).

III.3 Comparison of CBS of the Countries Reporting Data to BIS

Vis-à-vis CBS of India
A comparative position of CBS of India and the CBS of BIS reporting countries as at end-September 2005 and 2006 has been presented in this section covering three aspects, viz., (i) consolidated international/ foreign claims of banks in the BIS reporting countries on all other countries, (ii) consolidated international/foreign claims of banks in the BIS reporting countries on India and (iii) international/foreign claims of Indian Banks on countries other than India. It may be mentioned that the data published by the BIS relate to the consolidated total international/foreign claims of all BIS reporting countries on other countries. Further, the claims of India denote claims of Indian Banks’ branches/ offices, operating in India and abroad, on countries other than India.

Total International/Foreign Claims-Immediate Risk Basis

Total foreign claims of banks in the BIS reporting countries on all other countries recorded a growth of 18.9 per cent in September 2006 over September 2005  (Table 11). Also, total foreign claims of Indian Banks on other countries increased by US $ 9.6 billion (51.3 per cent) during the same period. As regards the components of ‘total foreign claims’, viz.,  ‘local claims in local currencies’ and ‘international claims’, the share of ‘local claims in local currencies’ of banks in the BIS reporting countries to total foreign claims declined marginally and correspondingly, the share of total international claims increased at end-September 2006 as compared to their respective share a year ago. In respect of claims of Indian Banks, the share of international claims increased and, thus, the share of local claims in local currencies declined.

International claims of banks in the BIS reporting countries on India (i.e., India’s liability) stood at US $ 74.9 billion as at end-September 2006, which was more by US $ 20.6 billion over the position a year ago, whereas the international claims of Indian Banks on other countries (i.e., India’s asset) stood at US $ 24.3 billion as at end-September 2006, which was more by US $ 9.1 billion over the position a year ago. As regards ‘total foreign claims’, the claims on India (US $ 120.3 billion) were more than four times the claims of Indian Banks on other countries (US $ 28.3 billion). The considerable divergence could partly be attributed to the ‘local claims in local currencies’ covering lending/investment of foreign banks’ offices in India (US $ 45.4 billion), which was significantly higher than the ‘local claims in local currencies’ of Indian Banks’ foreign offices (US $ 4.0 billion).

International Claims-by Residual Maturity and Sector

Maturity-wise classification of international claims of banks in the BIS reporting countries on all other countries revealed that the share of ‘long-term’ as well as ‘short-term’ claims declined marginally as at end-September 2006 compared to their respective shares a year ago due to increase in claims in unallocated category. The ndian Banks preferred ‘short-term’ lending/ investment as at end-September 2006. However, the share of ‘short-term’ claims declined and the share of  ‘long-term’ claims increased.

Maturity pattern of international claims of banks in the BIS reporting countries on India and that of international claims of Indian Banks on other countries revealed that the short-term claims on India (US $ 39.7 billion) were more than double the short-term claims of Indian Banks on other countries (US $ 18.7 billion) at end-September 2006 (Table 12). Like wise, the long-term claims on India (US $ 20.4 billion) were more than three times the long-term claims of Indian Banks on other countries (US $ 5.4 billion). The short-term claims of banks in the BIS reporting countries on India increased by US $ 10.2 billion in September 2006 over the position a year ago compared to an increase of US $ 6.7 billion in short-term claims of Indian Banks on countries other than India during the same period.

           
Sector-wise composition of international claims of banks in the BIS reporting countries on all other countries as at end-September 2006 showed that the share of ‘non-bank private’ sector increased by 2.6 percentage points over the share a year ago, while the share of ‘bank’ and ‘non-bank public’ sectors declined. In respect of Indian Banks’ international claims on countries other than India, the shares of ‘bank’ sector increased, and the share of ‘non-bank public’ and ‘non-bank private’ sectors declined.

Comparative position of sector-wise classification showed that the share of claims of banks in the BIS reporting countries on India in the ‘non-bank private’ sector increased while the share declined for ‘bank’ and ‘non bank public’ sectors in September 2006 over September 2005.

International Claims-by Country of Incorporation of Reporting Banks

International claims of banks in the BIS reporting countries on all other countries classified according to the country of incorporation of the bank as at end-September 2005 and 2006 are presented in . The banks incorporated in Germany continued to account for the maximum share at 20.2 per cent, followed by banks incorTable 13porated in Japan (11.2 per cent), France (11.0 per cent), the UK (10.7 per cent), and Netherlands (7.6 per cent). However, the share of banks incorporated in Germany declined in September 2006 over their share a year ago. The Indian Banks’ share in total international claims, though increased, was negligible at 0.2 per cent as at end-September 2006.

Such claims of banks on India according to their country of incorporation revealed that the banks incorporated in five countries, viz., the USA, Germany, the UK, Japan, Netherlands and France accounted for 74.7 per cent share in aggregate as at end-September 2006. While the shares of claims of banks incorporated in the USA and Japan increased, the shares of banks incorporated in Germany, the UK, Netherlands and France declined in September 2006 over September 2005 (Table 14).

Foreign Claims: Ultimate Risk Basis

Total foreign claims, on ultimate risk basis, of banks in the BIS reporting countries on all other countries stood at US $ 21,107.9 billion as at end-September 2006, of which 53.2 per cent claims were on ‘non-bank private’ sector (Table 15). The foreign claims of banks in the BIS reporting countries on India stood at US $ 105.6 billion as at end-September 2006, which was more than four times the foreign claims of Indian Banks on other countries (US $ 25.8 billion).

IV. Summary

The international liabilities as well as the international assets of banks increased as at end-September 2006 over the previous quarter. However, international liabilities of banks were almost double than their international assets (Chart 1). While international liabilities of banks increased by Rs. 14,236 crore (4.4 per cent), due to considerable increase in equities of banks held by non-residents and ADRs/GDRs, as at end-September 2006 over the position in the previous quarter, the international assets of banks increased by Rs. 8,787 crore (5.7 per cent) during the same period, mainly due to sizeable increase in NOSTRO balances held abroad and loans extended to non-residents.

About 72.0 per cent of the total international liabilities as at end-September 2006 accounted for by NRE Rupee deposits, Foreign Currency Borrowing and FCNR(B) deposits whereas about 88.2 per cent of the total international assets were comprised of foreign currency loans to residents, NOSTRO balances including placements abroad and outstanding export bills (Statement I). While 69.2 per cent of the FCNR(B) and 56.5 per cent of NRE Rupee deposits were mobilized from residents of three countries, viz., the US, the UK and UAE, about 68.9 per cent of total foreign currency borrowings were made from the entities of four countries, viz., the US, the UK, Singapore and Germany (Statement II). 74 per cent of the total NOSTRO balances were concentrated only in three countries (viz., the US, the UK and the Singapore). The outstanding export bills spread over 5 countries (viz., the US, Hong Kong, UAE, the UK, and Italy) accounted for 61.2 per cent to total outstanding export bills as at end-September 2006 (Statement III).

The international liabilities of banks, as at end-September 2006, were mainly denominated in two currencies (viz., Indian Rupee (49.4 per cent) and US dollar (39.0 per cent)), and 67.1 per cent of their liabilities were spread over six countries, viz., the USA, the UK, UAE, Mauritius, India and Singapore. More than 70 per cent liabilities were towards ‘non-bank’ sector. As regards international assets of banks as at end-September 2006, about 80 per cent were denominated in the US dollar. Also, more than three-fourths of the international assets were accounted for by five countries, viz., India, the US, the UK, Singapore and Hong Kong. A major part (58.7 per cent) of the international assets were with ‘non bank’ sector.

Consolidated international claims, based on immediate risk basis, of banks on countries other than India as at end- September 2006 registered an increase of Rs. 15,371 crore over the position in the previous quarter. About 75.1 per cent of these claims were of short-term maturity (residual maturity of less than one year) and 59.3 per cent claims were on the USA, the UK, Singapore, UAE, Germany and Hong Kong. Further, while 55.7 per cent claims were on ‘non-bank private’ sector entities, 43.5 per cent claims were on ‘bank’ sector.

Consolidated foreign claims of Indian Banks on ultimate risk basis stood at Rs. 1,18,295 crore as at end-September 2006. The consolidated contingent claims/ exposures of Indian Banks arising from derivatives, guarantees and credit commitments stood at Rs. 8,735 crore, Rs. 11,686 crore and Rs. 865 crore, respectively.

International claims of banks in the BIS reporting countries on India (i.e., India’s liability) stood at US $ 74.9 billion as at end-September 2006, which was higher by US $ 20.6 billion over the position a year ago, whereas the international claims of Indian Banks on other countries (i.e., India’s asset) stood at US $ 24.3 billion as at end-September 2006, registering a rise of US $ 9.1 billion during 2005-06.