Sign In

What is Repo Rate in Mutual Funds & How does it affect your Investments?​

There can be many scenarios wherein the commercial banks may suddenly require a lot of liquid money; scenarios like sudden redemption or withdrawal of funds in bulk or in order to maintain its Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) or Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) . When you face a shortage of funds, you probably go to your parents, but where can a bank go? The bank takes a loan from the Reserve Bank of India by keeping Government Securities as collateral with the RBI. At the end of the loan term, which is either overnight or 7 days, the bank repurchases the Government Securities by paying back the loan amount along with a pre-decided interest rate.

Hence, the repo rate is the interest rate at which the RBI lends money to the commercial banks to help them enhance their liquidity. In case the bank defaults in paying the money back to the RBI, the latter sells the G-Secs that were kept collateral, further in the market.

Let us see an example-

As an illustration, considering a hypothetical repo rate of 6.5%, below is the bank’s borrowing process-

Bank’s repaying process-

What’s the significance of Repo Rate for our economy?

Regulating the repo rate is one of the tools that the RBI adopts, in order to regulate the inflation and growth in the economy. Consider a situation where the inflation in the economy is high; the RBI will increase the repo rate in order to bring it down. Let’s see how that works:

How Repo Rate affects your mutual fund investments?

Debt Mutual Fund schemes-

Considering an example, assume that a 10-year Government bond was issued at face value of Rs 100 and interest (coupon) rate of 8%. This implies the yield in this bond is Rs 8. Now, if the repo rate increases and the lending rate is increased to, say, 10%, that would mean that the yield for the new bond issued will be Rs 10. This will bring down the demand of the 8% bond since the 10% coupon rate promises better returns. To make the former more attractive, the face value of the bond will be decreased to, say, Rs 90. The yield for this bond now becomes 8.89% (8/90*100), which is higher than the original, hence making it more attractive. Hence, an increase in interest rate is directly proportional to the yield and inversely proportional to the face value.

Debt mutual fund schemes invest in fixed income securities like Government bonds; hence, a decrease in repo rate may make the debt schemes more attractive as it may increase the NAV of the debt schemes. The margin of gain will depend on the average maturity and the securities the scheme holds.

Equity Mutual Fund schemes-

Equity schemes see an indirect impact of the repo rate changes. For example, if the interest rates drop, that may result in more funds being available to the corporates, which can boost their earnings and cashflow thereby leading to higher stock prices. This shift may not be seen immediately but may happen gradually. This results in positive sentiment in the equity market and the gains may thereby increase for the schemes that invest in equity.

As you can see, a change in the repo rate can directly or indirectly affect your debt and equity-linked investments. But before making any shifts in your investing strategy because of the repo rate regulations, it is recommended that you consult your financial advisor. Watch this space for more such jargon-decoding!

​​
​​​
Disclaimer:
This is an investor education and awareness initiative by Nippon India Mutual Fund.
Helpful information for investors: All Mutual Fund investors have to go through a one-time KYC (know your Customer) process. Investors should deal only with registered mutual funds, to be verified on SEBI website under 'Intermediaries/ Market Infrastructure Institutions'. For redressal of your complaints, you may please visit www.scores.gov.in . For more info on KYC, change in various details & redressal of complaints, visit mf.nipponindiaim.com/investoreducation/what-to-know-when-investing This is an investor education and awareness initiative by Nippon India Mutual Fund.

The information herein is meant only for general reading purposes and the views being expressed only constitute opinions and therefore cannot be considered as guidelines, recommendations or as a professional guide for the readers. The document has been prepared on the basis of publicly available information, internally developed data and other sources believed to be reliable. The sponsor, the Investment Manager, the Trustee or any of their directors, employees, associates or representatives (“entities & their associates”) do not assume any responsibility for, or warrant the accuracy, completeness, adequacy and reliability of such information. Recipients of this information are advised to rely on their own analysis, interpretations & investigations. Readers are also advised to seek independent professional advice in order to arrive at an informed investment decision. Entities & their associates including persons involved in the preparation or issuance of this material shall not be liable in any way for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, consequential, punitive or exemplary damages, including on account of lost profits arising from the information contained in this material. Recipient alone shall be fully responsible for any decision taken on the basis of this document. Language Disclaimer:
While utmost care has been taken in translating the article into respective regional language(s), in case of any confusion or difference of opinion, article available in English language should be deemed as final. The article provided herein is meant only for general reading purposes and the views being expressed only constitute opinions and therefore cannot be considered as guidelines, recommendations or as a professional advice for the readers. The document has been prepared on the basis of publicly available data/ information, internally developed data and other sources believed to be reliable. The sponsor, the Investment Manager, the Trustee or any of their directors, employees, associates or representatives (“entities & their associates”) do not assume any responsibility for, or warrant the accuracy, completeness, adequacy and reliability of such information. Recipients of this information are advised to rely on their own analysis, interpretations & investigations. Readers are also advised to seek independent professional advice in order to arrive at an informed investment decision. Entities & their associates including persons involved in the preparation or issuance of this material shall not be liable in any way for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, consequential, punitive or exemplary damages, including on account of loss of profits arising from the information contained in this material. Recipient alone shall be fully responsible for any decision taken on the basis of this article. "ABOVE ILLUSTRATIONS ARE ONLY FOR UNDERSTANDING, IT IS NOT DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY RELATED TO THE PERFORMANCE OF ANY SCHEME OF NIMF. THE VIEWS EXPRESSED HEREIN CONSTITUTE ONLY THE OPINIONS AND DO NOT CONSTITUTE ANY GUIDELINES OR RECOMMENDATION ON ANY COURSE OF ACTION TO BE FOLLOWED BY THE READER. THIS INFORMATION IS MEANT FOR GENERAL READING PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT MEANT TO SERVE AS A PROFESSIONAL GUIDE FOR THE READERS."

MUTUAL FUND INVESTMENTS ARE SUBJECT TO MARKET RISKS, READ ALL SCHEME RELATED DOCUMENTS CAREFULLY.
  • CONNECT WITH US
Top