Indian Rupee strengthens as JPMorgan includes India’s government bonds in emerging market index

In a week marked by financial developments, the Indian rupee closed higher on Friday, settling at 82.93 against the U.S. dollar, a weekly gain of 0.3%. This performance comes on the heels of an announcement by multinational investment bank JPMorgan, revealing its plans to incorporate India’s government bonds into its emerging market index.

This process is scheduled to commence on June 28, 2024, and will span over a period of ten months. Analysts predict that this move could generate inflows ranging from $22 billion to $30 billion. It could further appreciate Indian rupee against greenback.

B. Prasanna, head of global markets at ICICI Bank, told Reuters that passive inflows into Indian bonds could potentially escalate to as much as $50 billion over the forthcoming year if other foreign indexes follow suit and include Indian bonds.