IFC extends $150-M social loan to State Bank of India

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has extended a USD 150 million social loan to State Bank of India . This transaction marks the first credit line provided by IFC to a public-sector bank in India. The funding is intended to support nearly 8,64,000 rural women involved in agriculture and allied activities.The social loan will facilitate support for women engaged in agricultural value chains, including crop cultivation, animal husbandry, fisheries, and food processing. Approximately 90 percent of the financing will be distributed through women-led self-help groups, while the remaining portion will support women entrepreneurs under the bank’s Svayam Siddha Scheme.In addition to the social loan, IFC and SBI have entered into a derivative partnership under an ISDA Master Agreement, establishing the bank as IFC’s first domestic swap counterparty in India and South Asia. This arrangement is intended to strengthen IFC's capacity to source rupee-denominated funding and mitigate foreign exchange risk for borrowers in sectors such as infrastructure, agribusiness, and financial services.