EPFO decision on entering stock mkts likely by Dec 5

NEW DELHI: If the Finance and Investment Committee (FIC) of the EPFO, scheduled to meet here on December 1, takes a final call on investing a portion of its massive corpus in the capital markets, as much as Rs 13,000 crore could flow into equities.

The FIC meeting will decide on whether to park a portion--to the tune of three to five per cent--of the fund's corpus of Rs 2.71-lakh crore, into the equities markets. If the FIC gives a go ahead, its recommendation will go to the Central Board of Trustees (CBT), the apex body of the EPFO.

The CBT is likely to meet and decide on the issue at its meeting scheduled for December 5. Generally, the CBT upholds the FIC's recommendations.

"The FIC would meet on December 1 to firm up views on investing three to five per cent of the EPFO corpus in the stock markets," sources in the Labour Ministry said.

"The CBT meeting has also been scheduled on December 5 and is likely to take a call on the issue of investment in stock markets," they added.

The issue has been in debate for quite some time now. Earlier, the FIC had met on October 8 to decide whether to invest some of its funds in the stock market, but remained inconclusive and it was decided that members would meet again on October 24.