The total volume of government securities traded during the first quarter of this fiscal went up by almost 18 per cent to Rs 21,72,022 crore (Rs 21,720.22 billion) due to growth in securities transacted outright, especially dated papers.
During the last quarter of 2009-10, the total volume of government securities transacted was Rs 18,41,227 crore (Rs 18,412.27 billion) according to the data from the Finance Ministry.
"The increase in volume was largely on account of dated securities which increased by 90 per cent over the previous quarter," it said in a report on Public Debt Management.
Government securities are sovereign securities issued by the Reserve Bank of India on behalf of the Government of India's market borrowing programme. Government securities transacted on an outright basis during the quarter saw a jump of 78.11 per cent in volume during the first quarter at Rs 10,35,556 crore (Rs 10,355.56 billion), against Rs 5,81,418 crore (Rs Rs 5,814.18 billiion).
An outright contract involves direct purchase or sale of government security for the purpose of increasing or decreasing money supply. Within this segment, dated securities witnessed the biggest growth in volume at 90.49 per cent.
They totalled Rs 8,95,231 crore (Rs 8,952.31 billion) during the April-June period of this fiscal, as against Rs 4,70,475 crore (Rs 4,704.75 billion) in the previous quarter.
Transaction of treasury bills accounted for Rs 1,22,207 crore (Rs 1,222.07 billion) in Q1, up 33.48 per cent over the figure of Rs 91,554 crore (Rs 915.54 billion) in the last quarter of 2009-10.
The volume of state government securities, however, saw a decline of 6.56 per cent during the quarter under review at Rs 18,118 crore (Rs 181.18 billion), from Rs 19,389 crore (Rs 193.89 billion) in January-March period.
The other segment on government securities, repo transaction, also witnessed a downward trend during the first quarter of 2010-11.
Repo transaction, where a borrower in allowed to use a financial security as collateral for a cash loan at a fixed rate of interest, also saw a dip of nearly 10 per cent in volume.
The total volume of government securities transacted as repo transaction went down to Rs 11,36,466 crore (Rs 11,364.66 billion) in April- June, from Rs 12,59,809 crore (Rs 12,598.09 billion) in the previous quarter.
