RBI's bond purchases jump after Iran war

India's central bank ​has boosted its secondary-market ​government bond purchases significantly since the Iran ​war broke out, data showed on Friday.

The Reserve Bank of India net bought bonds worth 195.30 billion rupees ($2.1 billion) ‌in the ⁠week ended ⁠March 13, against a record 572.10 billion rupees for the week to March 6.

This, along with open market ​purchases over the two weeks, account for 25% of the bonds bought in the first 11 ​months of the financial year that ⁠ends in ‌March.


* Overall, the central bank ​has ​bought bonds worth 1.77 trillion rupees since ⁠the war started, including 1 trillion rupees through ​open market operations

* Bond purchase tally ​for the fiscal year stands at 8.73 trillion rupees

* The operations have helped to temper the upward movement in yields, Sameer Karyatt, MD and head of treasury at DBS Bank India ‌said

* Benchmark 10-year bond yield is up only 8 bps since the war ​broke out

* ​Traders say ⁠the central bank was in the market sporadically this week and expect the intervention to continue

* Bond ​purchases are primarily targeted at infusing liquidity but they also cool yields

* RBI's total liquidity infusion, including other measures this fiscal, stands at 13.52 trillion rupees ($1 = 93.5230 Indian rupees)