RBI relaxes foreign investment rules; hikes limit in G-Secs, corporate bonds

25 Jan 2013 Evaluate

In a move to attract foreign capital investment and bridge the current account deficit at a time when the country is expected to see its slowest economic growth in a decade, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) eased some of the rules pertaining to foreign institutional investors (FIIs) buying into domestic debt.

The RBI hiked FII investment limits in government securities (G-Secs) and corporate bonds by $5 billion each, pursuant to which FIIs and long-term investors can now invest $25 billion in G-Secs and $50 billion in corporate debt instruments, taking the total to $75 billion. Further liberalizing the norms, the apex bank also removed the three-year lock-in period for FIIs purchasing G-Secs for the first time and also dispensed with the one year lock-in period on holding infrastructure bonds.

Earlier, the FIIs investment limit in G-Secs was $20 billion and for corporate debt it was $45 billion, including sub-limit of $25 billion for infra bonds. Further, the central bank removed some of the restrictions mandating FIIs must buy into debt with a minimum maturity, which is known as the residual maturity. As per the RBI, ‘residual maturity condition shall not be applicable for the entire sub-limit (in G-Secs) of $15 billion but such investments will not be allowed in short-term paper like Treasury Bills, as hitherto.’

The removal of lock-ins in infrastructure bonds and residual maturity in government debt would increase operational and portfolio management flexibility for foreign investors, who have been for a long time complaining about India's complicated system for investing in debt, which includes different categories of investors and a number of restrictions.

This move by the apex bank comes at a time when finance minister P Chidambaram is overseas meeting investors in a four-city road-show to attract more foreign funds into the country, which is battling a high current account deficit (CAD). The CAD touched a record high of 5.4% in the July-September quarter of the current fiscal.

The measures were previously announced by the government, however was not formally unveiled by market regulator - Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI), which oversees foreign investments into the country. Besides this, the government recently hiked import duty on gold and also took steps to encourage mutual funds park their gold in deposit schemes offered by banks, in order to check outflow of foreign currency.

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