HDFC executes unusual trade to hedge borrowings against interest rate risk

The switch in hedging tools comes as markets are buffeted by surging policy rates, with the Reserve Bank of India having hiked by 140 basis points since May to tackle inflation

India’s largest mortgage financier used an unusual trade to hedge some of its borrowings against interest rate volatility as it sought to expand its range of tools to manage risk, according to people familiar with the matter.

Housing Development Finance Corp., the nation’s biggest rupee-bond issuer this year, used a so-called total return swap to hedge rate risks on a debt issuance which closed last month, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private arrangements. The lender had been primarily using overnight-index swaps before, they said.

The switch in hedging tools comes as markets are buffeted by surging