📘 Q.2 IAS Prelims 2024 — Economy (Current Affairs | Banking | Syndicated Lending)
🧷 Authentic Classroom Explanation by IAS Monk
📌 The Question:
Consider the following statements:
Statement-I: Syndicated lending spreads the risk of borrower default across multiple lenders.
Statement-II: The syndicated loan can be a fixed amount/lump sum of funds, but cannot be a credit line.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
(a) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
(b) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
(c) Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
(d) Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct
✅ Correct Answer: (c) Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
🧠 Curiosity Raiser
Why do mega projects rarely rely on a single bank, even when that bank is large?
Because risk sharing is as important as capital availability.
📘 Enrichment Notes (Current Affairs + Concept)
🔹 What is Syndicated Lending?
- A syndicated loan is provided by a group of lenders (syndicate) to a single borrower
- Used when:
- Loan size is too large for one lender
- Project requires specialised expertise
- Recent examples:
- SBI’s $1 billion syndicated social loan (2023)
- Shriram Finance’s $468 million multi-currency syndicated ECB (Jan 2024)
Statement-wise Analysis
- Statement-I ✅ Correct
- Risk of default is spread across multiple lenders
- Reduces exposure of any single bank
- Statement-II ❌ Incorrect
- Syndicated loans can be:
- Fixed-term loans (lump sum)
- Revolving credit lines
- Or a combination of both
- Syndicated loans can be:
➡️ Hence, Statement-II is factually wrong.
🔑 One-line Recall
Syndicated loan = multiple lenders + risk sharing + flexible loan structures
🧘♂️ IAS Monk Whisper
In modern finance, strength lies not in standing alone, but in standing together.
