Govt bonds oversubscribed as FPIs bid for $700 mn

Government bonds on Monday received robust response from foreign investors attracting bids to the tune of about $700 million, against $429 million on offer.

The auction was conducted on NSE's e-bid platform from 1530 hours to 1730 hours, after the market hours.

At the end of the two-hour auction, as many as 37 bids were declared successful out of 47, the exchange data showed.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bid for investment limits in government debt securities worth Rs 4,541 crore ($699 million) as against Rs 2,786 crore ($429 million) on offer.

The debt auction quota gives overseas investors the right to invest in the debt up to the limit purchased.

Till September 21, the total investment in the government debt category reached Rs 1,84,914 crore, 98.52 per cent of total permitted threshold of Rs 1,87,700 crore, as per the latest update with depositories.

Consequently, the exchange had decided conduct an auction for the allocation of unutilised debt investment limits (Rs 2,786 crore).

In an auction conducted earlier this month, the government bonds had attracted bids worth Rs 6,663 crore from foreign investors against Rs 4,910 crore put on offer.