Government To Plan $10 Billion Global Bond Sale In October: Report

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

A sizable issue given a huge appetite in the market would fetch lower interest rates, the people said, asking not to be identified as the plan is still under discussion. The other option is to go for two tranches, they said.

But, the argument against doing multiple rounds as the size would be small to attract investors, the people said.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the offshore bond sale plan in the annual budget, amid shrinking options to raise funds to boost spending on infrastructure. In the same spending plan, she sought to lower the nation's fiscal deficit target for the current year to 3.3 per cent of gross domestic product from 3.4 per cent previously.

The government's preferred currencies for the bond sale would be Yen and Euro due to lower rates, the people said. But it's also keeping dollar as an option because the currency is more liquid, they said, adding the government wouldn't hedge the bond sale as that would increase its costs.

Finance ministry spokesman DS Malik didn't immediately respond to calls.

The maturity of the bonds could be 10 years or more, the people said.