An acute paucity of dollars is forcing the banks to sidestep high-ticket deals from large companies.
The rising demand for dollars is pushing up the rates on loans that domestic banks take from their foreign counterparts.
Even the foreign banks are finding it difficult to lend as they are exhausting the country limit from their parents.
Rates on interbank dollar loans, which are being borrowed at various tenors such as overnight, one-month and six-month, are being pegged to the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor). Bankers said the rates have steepened mostly for the six-month loans.
Earlier, big corporates flocked to the external commercial borrowings market with big deals despite the banks charging high margins. They are waning now.
