States borrowing cost falls to 32-week low of 7.40 percent

In the largestever state government securities auction so far this fiscal 12 states on Tuesday raised Rs 35800 crore at an average annualised price of 774 per cent

In spite of that, the weighted average cut-off eased by 3 bps to 7.32 per cent from the last auction. The fall is also regardless of the fact that there was a mild rise in the weighted average tenor to 16 years from 15 years, Icra Ratings said in a note.

States continued to pay higher coupon rates to bond investors with average price remaining 7.69 per cent at the latest auction on Tuesday. So far, the states have taken Rs 5.67 lakh crore of debt so far this fiscal, which is 33.5 per cent more than what they had raised in the same week last fiscal when it had stood at Rs 4.22 lakh crore.

At the auction held on Tuesday, 11 states raised Rs 11,600 crore by selling state government securities (SGS), which trailed by over 22 per cent from the amount indicated for this week in the Q3 auction calendar at Rs 15,000 crore.

Lower supplies for the second consecutive week finally led to the coupons on state debt to fall from the two-year high at the latest auction held on Tuesday, and the weighted average cut-off eased by 7 bps to 7.65 per cent. For the past two weeks, despite poor supplies states were forced to offer very high returns, which had touched 7.72 per cent last week, the highest in the past two years.

Eight states raised Rs 9,600 crore through state government securities (SGS) on Tuesday, which is 13.6 per cent higher than the amount indicated for this week in the auction calendar, according to Aditi Nayar, the chief economist at Icra Ratings.

Despite lower supply, the weighted average cut-off inched up to 7.72 per cent, which is the highest so far in FY24 from 7.71 per cent last week. The payout increased in spite of the weighted average tenor remaining unchanged at 11 years.

The entire Karnataka cabinet and Congress party MLAs staged a protest at Jantar Mantar, and the Kerala cabinet will host a protest at the same venue. | Latest News India

The borrowing cost for states fell to 7.44% in the debt auction, lower than the two-year high of 7.8% in January. This decline is attributed to the interim Union Budget and the fiscal deficit target. Issuance trailing, limited supply, and falling interest rates contributed to the decrease. The weighted average tenor increased, while the spread between cut-off rates declined.

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