RBI's govt bond auction devolves partially

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s government bond auction worth Rs 16,000 crore devolved partially on primary dealers due to lack of participation in the auction by insurance companies. The two papers which devolved partially were the 7.95 per cent 2032 and the 8.17 per cent 2044 paper. The auction for these two papers were for Rs 3,000 crore each and the devolvement was Rs 1,147.78 crore and Rs 1,560.81 crore, respectively. The other two papers on auction sailed smoothly. "This is a lean season for insurance companies, due to which we do not receive much of premium. As a result, we lack the investment appetite," said the head of fixed income of an insurance company. Meanwhile, the yield on the 10-year benchmark bond ended one basis point higher at 7.95 per cent on Friday, compared with its previous close.