Treasury Bill Benchmark Linked Lending Rate - FAQs

More About Treasury Bill linked Mortgage Loans

1. What is a Treasury Bill Benchmark linked Lending Rate (TBLR)?

   Treasury Bill Benchmark linked Lending Rate (TBLR) is an external benchmark linked lending rate introduced by Citibank, N.A. with effect from 24^th January 2018 for its mortgage loans. The interest rate on your mortgage loan will be linked to TBLR.

2. What is a Treasury bill benchmark rate?

   Treasury Bill (T Bill) is a short term (up to 1 year) debt issuance from the Government of India. These instruments are issued at a discount and redeemed at face value on maturity, which provides the interest rate return on the security. Financial Benchmarks India Pvt. Limited (FBIL) is an independent benchmark administrator and provides daily T Bill rate Benchmarks which are available at http://www.fbil.org.in/.

3. What is Financial Benchmarks India Pvt. Ltd (FBIL)?

   Basis Reserve Bank of India recommendation, Financial Benchmarks India Pvt. Limited (FBIL) was jointly promoted by Fixed Income Money Market & Derivative Association of India (FIMMDA), Foreign Exchange Dealers’ Association of India (FEDAI) and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA). It was incorporated on 9^th December, 2014 under the Companies Act 2013. It was recognized by Reserve bank of India as an independent Benchmark administrator on 2^nd July, 2015.

   The main object of the company is to act as an administrator of the Indian interest rate and foreign exchange benchmarks and to introduce and implement policies and procedures to handle the benchmarks. FBIL reviews each benchmark to ensure that the benchmarks accurately represent the economic realities of the interest that it intends to measure.

4. How is the TBLR calculated?

   The TBLR which will serve as the reference rate will be determined by using the 3 month Treasury bill reference rate published By Financial Benchmarks India Pvt. Limited (FBIL).

   The T Bill rates are determined and published on a daily basis by FBIL. The bank will use the 3 month T Bill benchmark as of a specific date of a month to determine TBLR. The details with respect to the same are provided in the loan agreement.

5. What are the benefits of Tbill linked Loan?

   TBLR is based on a publically available rate which is published by an independent benchmark administrator recognized by RBI. The Monetary policy and key rate changes by RBI also influence movement in Treasury bill rates and consequently the T Bill benchmark rates published by FBIL.

   Having a loan linked to a FBIL T Bill Rate would provide a customer a reference rate which is simple to calculate and also enable them to conveniently and independently track the movement in their interest rates. The FBIL T Bill benchmark data is published by FBIL on a daily basis and is available on their website www.fbil.org.in

6. How is the rate of interest on a loan determined under TBLR?

   For new mortgage loans booked from January 24, 2018, the interest rate on the loan may be benchmarked to the TBLR. The customer interest rate = TBLR as applicable during that month + Spread.

   The spread is determined by various factors which comprise of internal Citi loan assessment parameters which, amongst other factors, include loan amount and facility type.

7. Would TBLR get reviewed? If yes, when?

   Yes, the bank shall review and publish the TBLR every month.. The T Bill reference rate published by FBIL on a predetermined date will be used as the basis for TBLR. In the event of that particular date being a holiday, the next working day's rate will be used.

8. How often will my rate be reset? What are the interest rate reset dates for a TBLR linked home loan?

   The interest rate on the linked loan will be reset on a quarterly basis. The TBLR rate published by Citi is available at the Citi website at www.citibank.com/india

   The TBLR interest rate reset dates in the quarterly reset are 1^st March, 1^st June, 1^st September and 1^st December. To clarify, in the event of increase/decrease in TBLR in October 2018 (e.g.0.10%) and then again increase/decrease in November 2018 (e.g. 0.10%), the interest rate reset date for both changes will be 1^st December 2018 and the rate will increase/decrease by 0.20%.

9. What is the current TBLR?

   To know the latest TBLR rate, click here

10. Do I have an option to link my loan to any other benchmark other than TBLR?

    No,
    Citibank offers loans linked to Government of India 3-Month Treasury Bill yield published by the Financial Benchmarks India Private Ltd (FBIL) Only.

11. Is the TBLR linked rate available for NR customers too?

    Yes, the same is available for NR customers as well.

12. I have an existing loan booked under CMPR, Base rate or MCLR. Can I get it converted to a TBLR rate system?

    That is possible. An existing customer has an option to link their loan to TBLR. This would require a supplementary agreement to be executed with the Bank. For such conversion cases from erstwhile benchmarks like MCLR, CMPR and Base rate to TBLR, the interest rate will be mapped as per the current offering in force to new customer with same risk profiles/same loan type. The current offering is as per “Current pricing grid” or “Published pricing grid” and refers to Mortgage product type wise onboarding interest rate range published on Citibank website on time to time basis which is offered to all new customers. 

    Post conversion ,the interest rate on linkage to TBLR will change upwards or downwards as the case may be, in line with movement of the TBLR, if any, with a quarterly reset frequency in the subsequent quarter/s, after execution of the supplementary agreement.

13. When did Citibank launch this offering?

    TBLR product was launched by Citibank on 24^th January 2018. Citibank has always endeavored to provide world class services and products to its clients.

    In relatively more developed financial markets such as Singapore, UK, etc., there is a common concept of an External Benchmark /reference rate basis which all the variable rate products are linked to for interest rate movements. This ensures relatively higher transparency and even allows the borrowers to learn and track the movement of the benchmarks independently.