Finance ministry official says primary dealers want more shorter duration bonds

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian primary dealers have asked the government to issue more shorter-dated securities to help boost sagging demand in debt markets, said a finance ministry official on Wednesday after meeting with market participants about the country's borrowing plans.

Demand for longer-dated debt has waned as yields have surged since mid-2017 on concerns the Reserve Bank of India will raise interest rates as early as this year, while state-run lenders have also refrained from buying debt after sustaining market losses.

Indian government officials met a group of primary dealers on Wednesday to discuss the government's borrowing plans for the year starting in April.

 

(Reporting by Manoj Kumar and Suvashree Dey Choudhury)