India Said To Plan $10 Billion Global Bond Sale In October

The government is considering an option to raise $10 billion in one go from its first overseas bond sale as early as October, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter.

The preferred currencies would be yen and euro because yields are lower, but it’s also considering dollars as the currency is more liquid, the report said quoting the people said.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her debut budget, had proposed borrowing via foreign currency sovereign bond citing India’s low overseas debt compared to peers.

Bonds gained on the plan to raise $10 billion in one go as it led traders to factor in a large drop in borrowing in the second half of the fiscal, Bloomberg reported. The yield on the benchmark 10-year debt fell 3 basis points to 6.43 percent.

The government may still decide to issue the debt in multiple tranches, the report said, adding that India doesn’t plan to hedge the proceeds as that would increase costs.

Finance Ministry spokesman DS Malik didn’t respond to Bloomberg’s calls.