India plans to raise $10bn from first foreign sovereign bond sale

Bloomberg

India plans to raise as much as $10 billion from its first overseas sovereign bond because there’s huge appetite for its debt in the foreign market, according to a top finance ministry official.
“It’s a cautious beginning, which we need to make,” Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Garg said in an interview. “In terms of risk management I don’t see it exceeding 10-15 percent of the total borrowing, which makes it roughly about $10 billion.”
Sovereign bonds in India rallied after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said during her budget speech that the government would borrow in foreign currency to finance the budget deficit, a move that will ease pressure on local markets.
“We should be in a position to design the bond issuance program in the next couple of weeks,” Garg said in his office in New Delhi, adding the government will release more details in September when it announces borrowing plans for the second half of the year.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces shrinking options to raise funds as a slowing economy crimps tax revenue.
Investors have been concerned about his plans to borrow a record 7.1 trillion rupees ($104 billion) this fiscal year, a target Sitharaman left unchanged.