Foreign bond investors get access to $16 bn of additional debt in India

Government bonds had fallen for seven straight months to February, the deepest selloff in two decades as excessive debt supply, quickening inflation and higher global yields soured sentiment

India’s central bank raised limits for overseas investors that could lure $16 billion of additional funds into the nation’s sovereign as well as corporate debt.

Foreign investors will be allowed to increase holdings of a sovereign, state and corporate bonds by Rs 1.04 trillion ($16 billion) in the fiscal year to March 2019. Overseas investors can boost holding of central government securities by 0.5 percentage points a year, taking the limit to 5.5 per cent in fiscal year to March 2019 and to 6 per cent in the following 12 month period, the Reserve Bank of India said in a statement