New Delhi, Apr 17 (IANS): The Reserve Bank of India has turned its attention to meeting the funding requirements of NBFCs, MFIs and housing finance by providing special refinance facilities of Rs 50,000 crore to All India Financial Institutions (AIFIs) such as the NABARD and the SIDBI.

Announcing a series of liquidity and regulatory measures to ensure economic activity continues amid the COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Friday that advances under the refinancing route would be charged at repo rate at the time of availment.

He said that refinancing window for AIFIs would help offset impact of tightening of financial conditions in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic that has made raising funds difficult for these institutions.

As per RBI decision, Rs 25,000 crore would be provided to National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) for refinancing regional rural banks (RRBs), cooperative banks and micro finance institutions (MFIs); Rs 15,000 crore to Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for on-lending/refinancing; and Rs 10,000 crore to National Housing Bank for supporting housing finance companies (HFCs).

The AIFIs play an important role in meeting the long-term funding requirements of agriculture and the rural sector, small industries, housing finance companies, NBFCs and MFIs. These are the segments where funding needs is felt the most during the current crisis.