India's asset-backed securities market reached a record as global banks
increased purchases to gain exposure to one of the world's fastest-growing major
economies. Crisil Ratings chief rating officer Krishnan Sitaraman said foreign
banks' share of total bond issuance rose to about 35% in the fiscal year to
March, up from roughly 28% and 30% in the prior two years. With annual ABS
issuance of 1.53 trillion rupees (about $16bn), that implies overseas lenders
purchased roughly $5.6bn of bonds. People familiar with the matter said
Barclays, Citigroup, JP Morgan and Standard Chartered were among the foreign
banks boosting allocations to the sector.
