RBI opens Rs 50,000-crore special liquidity window to support mutual funds

According to the available data, the credit risk fund category saw its assets under management (AUM) dip by another 12 per cent in April to Rs 48,392 crore.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday opened a Rs 50,000-crore special liquidity window for mutual funds (MFs) to give a line of credit to the industry in the light of heightened redemption pressure after the closure of six schemes by Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund.

“The stress is, however, confined to the high-risk debt MF segment and, at this stage, the larger industry remained liquid,” the RBI said on Monday.

The RBI window, which is effective from April 27, allows MFs to access liquidity through two routes. Banks can borrow funds from the statutory liquidity facility for them from the RBI and lend to MFs against their collateral debt securities, or buy commercial papers or corporate debentures from the MFs. Following Rs 1.9 trillion outflows from debt schemes in March 2020, credit-oriented categories have continued to see further exits in April.

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According to the available data, the credit risk fund category saw its assets under management (AUM) dip by another 12 per cent in April to Rs 48,392 crore, followed by a medium duration fund, where the AUM was down by another 9 per cent to Rs 25,502 crore.

Industry executives said the RBI credit line was a much-needed support, considering that redemption pressures were expected to exacerbate after Franklin Templeton’s surprise move to wind up six of its credit-oriented schemes with combined net assets of Rs 25,000 crore.