Parking concessional export credit at 9 per cent in short-term deposits of foreign banks and pocketing a neat spread of 4 per cent to 5 per cent is the new game being played out in the market. Ingenuity apart, it is union commerce minister Ramakrishna Hedge's new package for exports and oratory last Thursday which has presented exporters with this never-before bonanza.

First, export credit was cut by 200 basis points to 9 per cent, and that too for 100 per cent of the exported volume. The move is later bettered by Hegde's statement in Singapore: "The rupee will slip some more, perhaps by another 1 per cent".

The rupee duly obliges, and bows to an all-time low of 43.70, forcing Reserve Bank governor Bimal Jalan to come out with a tough package of measures.

The cash reserve ratio and repo rate increase to 11 per cent and 8 per cent respectively has helped the rupee to recover to 42.60 levelsby the weekend, but it has done more for exporters.

Higher call rates at 35-40 per cent levels on account of the Reserve Bank measures, has forced foreign banks like Bank of America, ABN Amro Bank and Deustche Bank to hike interest rates on their high-value short-term depositsof 15 to 30-day tenure by 600 to 700 basis points.

IDBI Bank has gone in for a 50 basis points increase at the short-end. The private sector ICICI Bank, and foreign banks like Standard Chartered Bank and HongkongBank are expected to take a view some time this week.

All this is great news for exporters who are now depositing export credit availed of at 9 per cent in the high-yielding 13 to 14 per cent accounts in some of the foreign banks. Financial intermediaries attracting such deposits are only too gleeful, as it is still cheaper than borrowing in the overnight markets.

Further, export credit borrowed from `A' bank goes to `B' bank, enabling the latter to make up for the fortnightly gap in which the Reserve Bank squares up with its 7 per cent refinance.

This is not all. The Reserve Bank has also been very considerate, providing the proverbal "icing on the cake" for exporters, by allowing them to cancel and re-book trade-related forward contracts at will. This rule is to apply only for exporters, while importers are only allowed to roll over contracts already struck.

At the end of the day, it is the exporters who are laughing all the way to the bank.