BHarwana
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Mumbai: Nearly $222 billion of shortterm debt, equal to about half of India’s foreign exchange reserves, will come up for maturity this fiscal year, ringing alarm bells about external sector stability.
This debt will mature by the end of March 2019, latest status on external debt indicates. This is 52 per cent of India’s forex reserves at the end of March 2018. According to RBI’ weekly forex data, reserves have dropped $18 billion from there by the end June and another $2 billion in July.
The rupee has lost more than 5 per cent to the dollar since this April, as foreign investors pulled out of Indian markets and rising crude oil prices increased demand for dollars to pay for imports. The central bank has sold about $20 billion of dollars in the spot and forward markets to defend the local currency.
Short-term debt liabilities are expected to rise further to fund import demand. With no corresponding pick up in inflows, the strain on the rupee is also expected to add to local inflationary pressure. The central bank has already raised its benchmark policy rate-repo rate twice since June to rein in inflation and attract foreign investments.
The short-term debt liability and increasing import cost are expected to weigh on current account deficit, which already has more than doubled to 1.9 per cent of GDP in March.
Meanwhile, the central bank is expected to continue selling dollars to defend the rupee.
If the rupee continues to drop despite dollar sales by the Reserve Bank of India, some economists expect the government and RBI to consider the issue special bonds, like what they did in 1999 and 2013. India issued Resurgent India Bonds in 1999 and launched a special foreign currency non-resident deposits scheme to garner foreign reserves. The deposit scheme in 2013 helped the RBI raise around $30-35 billion and calm the rupee.
The finance ministry has reportedly met economists to consider feasibility of such an issue. “There is a need to come out with some innovative scheme to prop up reserves,” said an economist with a large company.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a report that if the rupee touches Rs 70 to the dollar and the inflows do not pick up, then there could be an NRI bond issue by the end of December to prop up reserves.
https://m.economictimes.com/markets...ssure-on-forex-kitty/articleshow/65287657.cms
@SunilM
This debt will mature by the end of March 2019, latest status on external debt indicates. This is 52 per cent of India’s forex reserves at the end of March 2018. According to RBI’ weekly forex data, reserves have dropped $18 billion from there by the end June and another $2 billion in July.
The rupee has lost more than 5 per cent to the dollar since this April, as foreign investors pulled out of Indian markets and rising crude oil prices increased demand for dollars to pay for imports. The central bank has sold about $20 billion of dollars in the spot and forward markets to defend the local currency.
Short-term debt liabilities are expected to rise further to fund import demand. With no corresponding pick up in inflows, the strain on the rupee is also expected to add to local inflationary pressure. The central bank has already raised its benchmark policy rate-repo rate twice since June to rein in inflation and attract foreign investments.
The short-term debt liability and increasing import cost are expected to weigh on current account deficit, which already has more than doubled to 1.9 per cent of GDP in March.
Meanwhile, the central bank is expected to continue selling dollars to defend the rupee.
If the rupee continues to drop despite dollar sales by the Reserve Bank of India, some economists expect the government and RBI to consider the issue special bonds, like what they did in 1999 and 2013. India issued Resurgent India Bonds in 1999 and launched a special foreign currency non-resident deposits scheme to garner foreign reserves. The deposit scheme in 2013 helped the RBI raise around $30-35 billion and calm the rupee.
The finance ministry has reportedly met economists to consider feasibility of such an issue. “There is a need to come out with some innovative scheme to prop up reserves,” said an economist with a large company.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a report that if the rupee touches Rs 70 to the dollar and the inflows do not pick up, then there could be an NRI bond issue by the end of December to prop up reserves.
https://m.economictimes.com/markets...ssure-on-forex-kitty/articleshow/65287657.cms
@SunilM