JP Morgan index this week, with the pace likely to accelerate once the US starts cutting rates, Standard Chartered Bank's India head of financial markets said.
«We have a different profile spread across clients. There are real money clients who may be investing in India off-benchmark. Then there will be the passive index trackers who will be the regular ones coming each month and we may see some large allocations come in intermittently. So, around $2-3 billion per month is what we expect,» Parul Mittal Sinha, head — financial markets, India & co-head, macro trading, ASA, Standard Chartered Bank, told ET.
Indian bonds will be included in JP Morgan's GBI-EM Global index suite starting June 28 and are expected to reach a weight of 10% over a 10-month period. In a recent note, JP Morgan's officials said that assuming an index-neutral position, foreign investment worth $20-25 billion could flow to Indian bonds following index inclusion.
Providing a view on how foreign flows may shape up if the Fed were to deliver a much-sought-after rate cut this year, Sinha said that the event would finally propel developed market flows into emerging markets after a two-year drought.
«If the Fed starts cutting, the one-time allocations, the fast-money names, they will definitely want to make use of that opportunity to enter (Indian bonds) ahead of normal flows. That will have a positive effect on all Asian markets as the DXY (dollar index) starts to normalise,» she said.
Standard Chartered Bank's research team estimates two rate