($1 = 81.7800 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Kashish Tandon; Editing by Savio D'Souza)
BENGALURU, May 9 (Reuters) - Some of the Russian funds
held in Indian banks are finding their way into domestic
government bonds, the Economic Times reported on Tuesday, citing
debt market officials.
These Russian funds, which are lying in domestic current
accounts, were also being invested in government securities such
as treasury bills, the report quoted bank treasury executives as
saying.
India's finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India did
not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.
Russia has accumulated billions of rupees in Indian banks
and needs to convert them into other currencies, Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday.
With a wider trade gap in favour of Russia, Moscow believes
it will end up with an annual rupee surplus of over $40 billion
if a permanent rupee payment mechanism is worked out and feels
that rupee accumulation is 'not desirable', Reuters reported
last week, citing an Indian government official.
While the exact volume of funds moving into Indian sovereign
debt is not known, bond traders identified an increase in the
ownership pattern of the "others" category of government
securities as an indicator, the ET report said.
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