RBI to keep popular govt bond tenors free of foreign investment curbs

India has no plans to reimpose foreign investor limits on new issuances of 5-year, 7-year and 10-year bonds, a government source aware of the development said on Wednesday, after curbs were imposed on bonds with longer tenors.

On Monday, the Reserve Bank of India said that in consultation with the government it had decided that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) would no longer have access to new Indian government bonds with 14-year and 30-year tenors under the fully accessible route (FAR).

Foreign investors see India's decision to return to curbs on purchases of some government securities as a flip-flop in policy that may force them to revise investment strategies, global fund managers said on Tuesday.

"One objective of excluding 14-year and 30-year securities is to focus FPI demand in securities up to 10 years and thereby improve liquidity in this segment," the source said on condition of anonymity as the discussions are not public.

"In future, securities of 5-year, 7-year, and 10-year are planned to be kept under the FAR," the source added.

India could choose to reimpose foreign investment limits on some government securities, if the inclusion of local bonds in JPMorgan's emerging market debt index leads to a deluge of inflows, India's Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth told Reuters in an interview last week.

The decision on exclusions from the FAR category is not based on any consideration of volatility, as 5-year and 10-year securities have attracted the most attention of foreign investors, the source said.

"The market has adequate liquidity to absorb any volatility arising from inflows," the person added.

Foreign funds can continue to invest in all securities, including the 14-year and 30-year bonds, through the secondary market, as against a limit of 6.0 per cent of outstanding stock accessible to foreigners the actual usage is quite low, the source said.

"There is adequate space in this category."