SBI CALLS ON RBI TO MAKE SHORTING BONDS COSTLIER

The RBI should consider steps to disincentivise short selling, which may have triggered the recent sell-off in the sovereign bond markets, according to the chief economic adviser at SBI Research.

Banks and primary dealers resort to such short-selling when they expect bond prices to fall, and this becomes a 'selffulfilling prophecy' sometimes with traders borrowing securities from the repo market and rolling them over till yields rise, Soumya Kanti Ghosh wrote in a note to clients on Monday.

"The only way to break such self-fulfilling expectations is for RBI to conduct large scale open market operations to provide necessary steam to the bond market to rally and with the increase in price many short-sold positions will trigger stop losses and market players will scramble to cover open positions," he said.

Yields on the benchmark 2030 debt rose 14 basis points last week amid fears about how the RBI plans to manage the huge government borrowing programme and a rise in global bond yields. The 2030 yield was up 6 basis points to 6.20 per cent on Monday.

Short selling involves selling borrowed from market. typically security the repo

Christchurch (New Zealand), Feb. 22: A Devon Conway batting masterclass inspired New Zealand to a 53-run win over Australia in the opening Twenty20 international in Christchurch on Monday.

Conway smashed an unbeaten 99 off 59 balls as the Black Caps overcame a shaky start to finish on

184/5 after losing the toss and being put in to bat.

In reply, the tourists were all out for 131 after

17.3 overs, with Black Caps spinner Ish Sodhi taking four wickets for 28 to give the hosts an early edge in the five-match series. Australia captain Aaron Finch refused to blame the loss on his team’s two-week Covid-19 quarantine upon arrival in New Zealand.

Brief scores: New Zealand

184/5 (Conway 99 n.o., Phillips

30, J Richardson 2/31) beat Australia 131 (Marsh 45, Sodhi

4-28, Southee 2/10).