Financial Times

HSBC largest lender in $100 million state borrowings
The Sri Lankan government has secured a loan of $100 million through a syndication of international banks including HSBC to launch the Education Project - a programme aimed at improving the quality of education in order to narrow the gap between educational attainment and labour market requirements.

HSBC said this is the first ever loan for Sri Lanka that is supported by the Nippon Export Import Guarantee Department (NEXI), a Japanese export credit agency, which was providing 40 percent of the loan, while HSBC acted as the single largest lender of the syndication and arranger.

Mark Humble, CEO of HSBC Sri Lanka, said funding is in the form of a five-year loan with the interest cost to the government being below 200 basis points plus LIBOR.
"We have a 111-year history in this country, throughout which we have played an active role in supporting projects that are key to the development of the country," Humble said.

The CEO added that "last August HSBC raised $33 million for the Ministry of Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Refugees for the construction of 72 steel bridges in the north-east province. The tenor of this loan was over 12 years - making this, perhaps, the longest tenor offered to the government of late."

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