Cuba’s Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment, Rodrigo Malmierca, met with the director of India’s EXIM BANK, Vikramaditya Ugra, in New Delhi.
The meeting analyzed the progress of approved credits for rice purchases valued at $100 million and three new projects in the renewal energy sector.
Minister Malmierca is in India on an official visit accompanied by a Cuban delegation. The trip is to drum up trade and foreign investment.
There is also talk of Cuba carrying out rupee trade with India as it could help it “deal with US blockade that makes it difficult to carry out financial transactions,” Malmierca said in an interview with The Hindu Business Line.
“We have been talking with the Indian government and commercial banks to find a solution to our problems with financial transactions,” he said. “Trading in the Indian rupee could be useful to us as we import substantially from India. So we are open to it,” Malmierca said.
In 2020, India offered a line of credit to Cuba for $75 million for solar park financing. The agreement was signed between the Export-Import Bank of India, Exim Bank, and Banco Exterior De Cuba. It came into effect in July last year on December 12.
Banco Exterior De Cuba is a state-owned banking agency in Cuba that provides financing to companies in all sectors of the economy and operates under a general license issued by Banco Central de Cuba.
“Exim Bank has entered an agreement dated July 16, 2019, with Banco Exterior De Cuba, for making available to the latter, Government of India supported Line of Credit (LoC) of USD 75 million to finance the installation of 75 MW Photovoltaic Solar Parks in the Republic of Cuba,” the statement read.
Under the LoC, the term is 60 months after the project completion date.
The agreements allow for the financing of goods and services exports from India under its Foreign Trade Policy.
The total credit line offered by EXIM BANK under the agreement covers products and services to 75% of the contract price. The remaining 25% can be bought by the seller from outside India.
India’s EXIM BANK founded in March 1982, is a financial institution owned by the government of India. It plays a crucial role in the nation’s economic development.
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