Government may increase the FII investment limit in corporate bonds and Government securities

08 Nov 2011 Evaluate
The Ministry of Finance hinted that the government may increase the investment limit for the Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) in corporate bonds and Government securities (G-secs) by $5 billion each. This move will help central government to raise funds via market borrowing programme without hurting availability of money for the private sector.  

A senior Finance Ministry official said, “We are planning to raise the investment limits for FIIs in corporate bonds and G secs soon". By adding further he said, the limits in both corporate bonds and G-secs would be enhanced by $5 billion each.
     
The FIIs have almost exhausted the Rs 43,650 crore or $10 billion investment limit for purchase of G-secs and they would not be able to buy more securities unless the ceiling is enhanced. According to the latest data, the FIIs investment in G-secs stood at Rs 42,388 crore. The G-secs includes treasury bills and dated securities issued by the central and state governments.

As per the proposal, the FII investment limit in corporate bonds is likely to increase from $15 billion presently to $20 billion. The FII investment cap for G-secs is also expected to increase from $10 billion to $15 billion. And this new limit will have some relaxation in lock-in period and bond tenure norms.
     
In September, the government revised its market borrowing programme for current financial year and decided to raise an additional Rs 52,800 crore. After the revision, the government will raise Rs 4.7 lakh crore from market from Rs 4.37 lakh crore in the last financial year.  
     

There was fear that the increased government borrowing would reduce the credit availability for the private sector. Earlier, the government had relaxed the norms for FII investment in long-term infrastructure bonds.

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