📘 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

➡️ 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.

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