Banks are going slow in purchasing bonds ahead of the Union Budget

Banks are going slow in purchasing bonds ahead of the Budget as there is no certainty about the borrowing programme that may come in February. 

The market at present expects the borrowing programme to be Rs 6-6.6 trillion on a gross basis, higher by about Rs 500 billion from last year. Normally, the rise should have been okay for the market, but there is a qualitative difference this time. There is a marked loss of appetite for the papers this time.

This is because there is no certainty that foreign investors would be able to buy as much as they did in