March 29 (Bloomberg) -- India’s government will borrow 3 trillion rupees ($66.5 billion) in the first half of the fiscal year beginning April, 66 percent of the planned total for the year, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey.
Projections in the survey of eight banks and fund managers ranged from 2.7 trillion rupees to 3.2 trillion rupees. India plans to borrow a record 4.57 trillion rupees in the next 12 months, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said while unveiling the budget on Feb. 26. Finance ministry and central bank officials are meeting in New Delhi today to finalize the borrowing calendar, which will indicate the amount and the maturity of the bonds to be sold between April and September. The Reserve Bank of India, which manages the bond auctions for the government, doesn’t expect the borrowing program to be a “huge” challenge, Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn said March 11. “I expect heavy sales of bonds maturing between 10 and 15 years,” said Ritesh Jain, head of fixed income at Canara Robeco Asset Management Ltd. in Mumbai, who oversees the equivalent of $1 billion in assets. “There is very little room in other segments” as several bonds will mature over the next five years. India’s 10-year bond yields touched 8.03 percent this month, the highest level in 17 months, after the central bank raised interest rates for the first time in almost two years. Policy makers increased the benchmark reverse repurchase rate to 3.5 percent, from a record-low 3.25 percent, and the repurchase rate to 5 percent from 4.75 percent on March 19. The measures came after wholesale-price inflation reached a 16-month high of 9.89 percent in February. The yield on the 6.35 percent note due January 2020 was at 7.85 percent as of 11.08 a.m. local time, little changed from March 26. (in trillion rupees) Canara Robeco 3.2 Corporation Bank 3.0 FirstRand Bank 3.0 IDBI Gilts 2.7 Kotak Mahindra Bank 3.2 Morgan Stanley Primary Dealer 3.05 Royal Bank of Scotland 2.99 Standard Chartered Bank 3.0 -- Thanks & Regards, Abhishek Kothari -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""GLOBAL SPECULATORS"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/globalspeculators?hl=en.
