RBI cuts down trading hours for domestic money markets amid lockdown
Mumbai/IBNS: The money markets in India will now function 10 am to 2 pm from Apr 7 due to lower participation due to lockdown and social distancing, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Friday.
The apex bank cut short the timings for the domestic money markets which used to operate from 9 am to 5 pm. The new timings will remain effective till April 17.
The timings will be applicable to all money markets, including call money, tri-party repo, market repo, commercial paper, certificate of deposits, repo in corporate bonds, government securities, forex market and rupee interest rate derivatives.
“The resultant dislocations have adversely impacted the functioning of financial markets. Staff and IT resources have been severely affected, posing operational and logistic risks. The thinning out of activity is impacting market liquidity and increasing volatility of financial prices," said the RBI in a press release.
According to a Mint report zero deals were recorded in the opening hours last week as traders stayed home amid lockdown and did bare minimum just to cover their positions. This led increased yields, though the volumes remained minimum and the trading in government securities crashed.
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