FY14 among top 5 years in terms of FII inflows

Net buying figure near Rs 70,000 crore Mark

The financial year, which will end at the close of the current month, is amongst the top five in terms of buying activity by foreign institutional investors (FIIs).

FIIs have been net buyers by Rs 69,228.7 crore this year, the fourth-highest on record and less than Rs 800 crore away from crossing the Rs 70,000 crore mark with little over a week to go.

The highest inflows ever came in the previous financial year, at Rs 1.4 lakh crore. Both FY10 and FY11 saw net buying of Rs 1.1 lakh crore.

Interestingly, the foreign investment may also benefit from the tail-wind of an appreciating currency. The exchange rate for the rupee against the dollar may move towards Rs 59, according to a Barclays Bank Emerging Markets Research report authored by Siddhartha Sanyal and Rahul Bajoria.

“Investment by foreign institutional investors (FII) into equities remains steady ($11.6 bn FYTD). FII investment in Indian debt has seen large swings – outflows of $10.3 bn over April-December have swung to $6 bn of inflows since January. The rupee, which has largely been in a 61-62 range since mid-September, will likely witness a pre-election rally towards 59, in our view,” said the report dated March 24.

A rising rupee adds to the returns of foreign investors.