After a year, RBI rejects all bids on sovereign green bonds at weekly bond auction

Green Bonds

After a gap of almost one year, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on June 13 rejected all bids on the sovereign green bonds at weekly bond auction as rising yields force investors to seek higher cut-off yield.

The last time the RBI rejected bids on the sovereign green bonds was on May 31, 2024, as per central bank’s database. Sovereign green bonds are government bonds specifically aimed at financing environmentally sustainable projects.

Money market experts said that government aims to issue green bonds at a lower coupon while investors, facing rising bond yields have sought higher return, this mismatch between demand and supply ultimately led to the cancellation of the Sovereign green bond auction.

During the auction, the central bank received 90 competitive bids for 6.98% GOI SGrB 2054 worth Rs 10,943.5 crore, and 3 non-competitive bids worth Rs 1.238 crore. These binds have come against the notified amount of Rs 5,000 crore.

Today, the yield on the government securities rose by around 4-5 basis points (Bps) as sentiments of traders dampened after Brent crude oil prices went up amid escalating tensions between Israel and Iran.

Usually, when the oil prices rises, it have an impact on the domestic inflation due to India's heavy reliance on imported crude oil. This dependency means that rising oil prices could lead to higher costs across various industries, ultimately driving up inflation.

Currently, India’s inflation is way below the medium term target of 4 percent. India’s retail inflation eased to a 75-month low of 2.82 percent in May, compared with 3.2 percent in April, as food inflation eased below 1 percent for the first time in nearly four years, according to government data released on June 12.

This is the fourth consecutive month that headline inflation has remained below the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) mid-point of 4 percent. Food inflation, which has a significant weight in the consumer price index, has stayed below 3 percent for three consecutive months.

Israel has launched Operation Rising Lion, a coordinated military campaign targeting what it describes as a threat to its 'very survival' posed by Iran. The strikes, which began late Thursday night, targeted Tehran and key sites linked to Iran's nuclear and missile programs.

Explosions were reported across the Iranian capital, with Iran's state-run news agency confirming the blasts.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the airstrikes were aimed at key parts of Iran's nuclear and military program.

These strikes come at the time when Trump administration is trying to make a deal with Iran to limit its nuclear activity. US secretary of state Marco Rubio made it clear the US was not involved. He also added that Israel acted on its own.