Wednesday, 25 October 2017

Bank capitalisation could lead to RBI hiking rates: Goldman Sachs-The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

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25 October  2017
 
Graph (The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions)
The Union Cabinet had approved a recapitalisation plan worth Rs2.11 lakh crore for state-run banks to boost flagging economic growth and increase bank credit flow. This measure is likely bearish for short term rates, and makes Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to hike rates, says a research report.

In the report, Goldman Sachs, says, "All else equal, the measures announced today are likely bearish for short-term rates, as they make the RBI more likely to hike rates sooner than market expectations, should growth momentum improve substantially, reducing economy-wide slack, and core inflation inch higher. We currently forecast that the RBI will hike rates three times by the end of 2018, an outcome that is not fully priced in by the market."

Goldman Sachs, however feels at present the long term impact on rates due to the recapitalisation move is more uncertain. It says, "Factors that may put upward pressure on longer dated rates include, improvement in growth expectations; uncertainty around the fiscal position and upside risks to the fiscal deficit; and increased open market sales of government bonds by the RBI to neutralize liquidity injections, should they have to lean against incremental currency appreciation pressures." The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions


On the other hand, the report says, "It is not clear that the Rs1.35 lakh crore in bank recap bonds will directly add to the supply of government paper to the market, as when the government issued recapitalisation bonds previously, banks were mandated to subscribe to the entire issue; longer-term fiscal fundamentals could actually improve and banking sector demand for government paper does not necessarily decrease given the significant potential increase in bank balance sheet capacity as a result of the bank recap, should leverage ratios stay constant." The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

"On balance, therefore, the impact on longer-dated rates is likely to be more uncertain, although in association with other factors such as the expected normalization of the term-premium in the G3 economies over the next year, we remain moderately bearish on longer-dated rates," Goldman Sachs added.

Given the sheer magnitude of this recap package and the significant implied easing in credit conditions, as credit and investment growth rebound, Goldman Sachs says it would expect a re-rating of growth expectations in India in the coming quarters. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

The move is likely to be bullish for equities and the Indian rupee in the medium term, the report says, adding, in the short term, a potential headwind to Indian rupee strength will be uncertainty around the fiscal position and the potential upside risks to the fiscal deficit when including other measures announced alongside the banking sector recap package.


"We would emphasize though that while the near-term risks are clearly skewed towards deterioration in the fiscal position, medium-term fiscal fundamentals could actually improve, should private sector growth and private corporate investment spending rebound meaningfully following the easing of credit conditions. The current account deficit would likely increase but from a low level. Overall, we think the bank recap package is likely bullish for the INR over the next 12 months," Goldman Sachs concluded.The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

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