mumbai after pumping in around rs 280 lakh crore liquidity into the banking system the reserve bank on saturday announced a slew of measures to give a boost to the real estate sector in addition to taking steps to arrest decline in forex reserves in order to ensure more liquidity for the real estate sector rbi allowed the registered housing finance companies to raise shortterm funds from overseas markets it has been decided to allow as a temporary measure housing finance companies registered with the national housing bank to raise shortterm foreign currency borrowing under the approval route a release by rbi said the decision will also help the country shore up its declining forex reserves which according to the latest data has slipped to about usd 250 billion from a high of usd 314 billion in aprilmay in addition the rbi also permitted indian banks to offer better interest rates for foreign currency deposits by the nonresidents henceforth the banks can offer rates up to 100 basis points over london interbank offered rate libor under foreign currency nonresident banks scheme and 175 basis over libor on nonresident external rupee accounts deposits these changes will encourage the banks to make the nonresident deposit schemes more attractive by raising interest rates since october rbi has announced various measures including cutting the mandatory deposits that banks keep with rbi by 350 basis points unlocking nearly rs 280 lakh crore bank funds the shortterm repo facility introduced for meeting liquidity requirements of mutual funds and nbfcs will be continued till march 2009 rbi said adding banks can avail of this facility either on incremental or on roll over basis within their entitlement of up to 15 per cent of ndtl in view of difficulties faced by exporters rbi also increased the time limit for preshipment export credit from 180 days to 270 days with immediate effect the central bank has also introduced a special refinance facility for banks to extend credit to micro and small enterprises under this facility banks can seek refinance from the rbi up to one per cent of their deposits global financial conditions continue to be uncertain and unsettled with ripple effects on domestic money forex and credit markets there are indications that the global slow down is deepening with a larger than originally expected impact on the domestic economy the rbi said in the statement on saturday the apex banks will continue to closely monitor the developments in the global and domestic markets and will take swift and effective action as appropriate the rbi said announcing the measures the rbi on saturday reduced risk weights for corporate and commercial real estate to 100 per cent from the earlier 150 per cent this measure is expected to encourage banks to lend more to these fundstarved sectors experts said many corporates had experienced difficulties to finance their projects in the recent past after foreign funding sources dried up and liquidity conditions worsened in the domestic market in the context of