RBI Can Sell Upto $30bn to Support Rupee; May Opt For NRI Bond

Bangalore: In order to arrest rupee depreciation, the Reserve Bank of India has a capacity to sell up to $30 billion from the forex reserves and may go for an NRI bond issue to mop-up up to $20 billion, foreign brokerage Bank of America Merill Lynch said.

"We expect the RBI to eventually mobilise $20 billion via NRI bonds, a la 1998 Resurgent India Bonds and 2001 India Millennium Deposits, as the sell-off of emerging market debt should constrain the ability of FII debt limit hikes to raise forex reserves," it said, adding that the central bank can sell upto $30 billion to support the rupee.

The BofAML report said that five year money can be raised by issuing the 7 to 9percent coupon bonds to stabilise markets, just as it was done in 1998 and 2001.

The country's banks had raised $4.8 billion and $5.5 billion from the bonds targeted at the diaspora during the economic crisis years in 1998 and 2001, respectively.

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