Gear your portfolio to gain from fall in rupee

Sovereign borrowing abroad could make the currency more volatile in the future

There are many implications to the policy decision to float forex-denominated sovereign bonds to fund borrowing. The initial amounts would be tiny relative to gross domestic product (GDP). So this is just a trial balloon for now. However, it will affect foreign portfolio investor (FPI) behaviour. The immediate FPI response to the Budget has been sales of rupee equity coupled with enhanced exposures in rupee debt. Bond market yields have eased slightly, and the rupee has strengthened.

FPIs invest in rupee debt as they reckon to come out ahead despite the exchange-rate risk. The rupee is liquid enough to hedge the