Q1. What is meant by BOP? How are capital account convertibility and current account convertibility different?

What is the current scenario in India? Ans:- The balance of payments (or BOP) of a country is a record of international transactions between residents of one country and the rest of the world over a specified period, usually a year. Thus, Indias balance of payments accounts record transactions between Indian residents and the rest of the world. International transactions include exchanges of goods, services or assets. The term residents means businesses, individuals and government agencies and includes citizens temporarily living abroad but excludes local subsidiaries of foreign corporations. The balance of payments is a sources-and-uses-of-funds statement. Transactions such as exports of goods and services that earn foreign exchange are recorded as credit, plus, or cash inflows (sources). Transactions such as imports of goods and services that expend foreign exchange are recorded as debit, minus, or cash outflows (uses). The Balance of Payments for a country is the sum of the Current Account, the Capital Account and the change in Official Reserves. The current account is that balance of payments account in which all short-term flows of payments are listed. It is the sum of net sales from trade in goods and services, net investment income (interest and dividend), and net unilateral transfers (private transfer payments and government transfers) from abroad. Investment income for a country is the payment made to its residents who are holders of foreign financial assets (includes interest on bonds and loans, dividends and other claims on profits) and payments made to its citizens who are temporary workers abroad. Unilateral transfers are official government grants-in-aid to foreign governments, charitable giving (e.g., famine relief) and migrant workers transfers to families in their home countries. Net investment income and net transfers are small relative to imports and exports. Therefore a current account surplus indicates positive net exports or a trade surplus and a current account deficit indicates negative net exports or a trade deficit. The capital (or financial) account is that balance of payments account in which all cross-border transactions involving financial assets are listed. All purchases or sales of assets, including direct investment (FDI) securities (portfolio investment) and bank claims and liabilities are listed in the capital account. When Indian citizens buy foreign securities or when foreigners buy Indian securities, they are listed here as outflows and inflows, respectively. When domestic residents purchase more financial assets in foreign economies than what foreigners purchase of domestic assets, there is a net capital outflow. If foreigners purchase more Indian financial assets than domestic residents spend on foreign financial assets, then there will be a net capital inflow. A capital account surplus indicates net capital inflows or negative net foreign investment. A capital account deficit indicates net capital outflows or positive net foreign investment. Current scenario in India The official reserves account (ORA) records the total reserves held by the official monetary authorities (central banks) within the country. These reserves are normally composed of the major currencies used in international trade and financial transactions. The reserves consist of hard currencies (such as US dollar, British Pound, Euro, Yen), official gold reserve and IMF

Special Drawing Rights (SDR). The reserves are held by central banks to cushion against instability in international markets. The level of reserves changes because of the central banks intervention in the foreign exchange markets. Countries that try to control the price of their currency (set the exchange rate) have large net changes in their Official Reserve Accounts. In general, a net decrease in the Official Reserve Account indicates that a country is buying its currency in exchange for foreign exchange reserves, to try to keep the value of the domestic currency high with respect to foreign currencies. Countries with net increases in the Official Reserve Account are usually attempting to keep the price of the domestic currency cheap relative to foreign currencies, by selling their currencies and buying the foreign exchange reserves. When a central bank sells its reserves (foreign currencies) for the domestic currency in the foreign exchange market, it is a credit item in the balance of payment accounts as it makes available foreign currencies. Similarly, when a central bank buys reserves (foreign currency), it is a debit item in the balance of payment accounts. The Balance of Payments identity states that: Current Account + Capital Account = Change in Official Reserve Account. If a country runs a current account deficit and it does not run down its official reserve to cover this deficit (there is no change in official reserve), then the current account deficit must be balanced by a capital account surplus. Typically, in countries with floating exchange rate system, the change in official reserves in a given year is small relative to the Current Account and the Capital Account. Therefore, it can be approximated by zero. Thus, such a country can only consume more than it produces (or imports are greater than exports; a current account deficit) only if it has a capital account surplus (foreign residents are willing to invest in the country). Even in a fixed exchange rate system, the size of the official reserve account is small compared to the transactions in the current and capital account. Thus the residents of a country cannot have a current account deficit (imports exceeding exports) unless the foreigners are willing to invest in that country (capital account surplus). Q2. Distinguish between Eurobond and foreign bonds? What are the unique characteristics of Eurobond markets? Ans:- A Eurobond is underwritten by an international syndicate of banks and other securities firms, and is sold exclusively in countries other than the country in whose currency the issue is denominated. For example, a bond issued by a U.S. corporation, denominated in U.S. dollars, but sold to investors in Europe and Japan (not to investors in the United States), would be a Eurobond. Eurobonds are issued by multinational corporations, large domestic corporations, sovereign governments, governmental enterprises, and international institutions. They are offered simultaneously in a number of different national capital markets, but not in the capital market of the country, nor to residents of the country, in whose currency the bond is denominated. Almost all Eurobonds are in bearer form with call provisions and sinking funds. A foreign bond is underwritten by a syndicate composed of members from a single country, sold principally within that country, and denominated in the currency of that country. The issuer, however, is from another country. A bond issued by a Swedish corporation, denominated in dollars, and sold in the U.S. to U.S. investors by U.S. investment bankers, would be a foreign bond. Foreign bonds have nicknames: foreign bonds sold in the U.S. are "Yankee bonds"; those sold in Japan are "Samurai bonds"; and foreign bonds sold in the United Kingdom are "Bulldogs."

Figure 4 specifically reclassifies foreign bonds from a U.S. investor`s perspective. FIGURE 4 FOREIGN BONDS TO U.S. INVESTORS

Foreign currency bonds are issued by foreign governments and foreign corporations, denominated in their own currency. As with domestic bonds, such bonds are priced inversely to movements in the interest rate of the country in whose currency the issue is denominated. For example, the values of German bonds fall if German interest rates rise. In addition, values of bonds denominated in foreign currencies will fall (or rise) if the dollar appreciates (or depreciates) relative to the denominated currency. Indeed, investing in foreign currency bonds is really a play on the dollar. If the dollar and foreign interest rates fall, investors in foreign currency bonds could make a nice return. It should be pointed out, however, that if both the dollar and foreign interest rates rise, the investors will be hit with a double whammy. Characteristics of Eurobond markets Currency denomination: The generic, plain vanilla Eurobond pays an annual fixed interest and has a long-term maturity. There are a number of different currencies in which Eurobonds are sold. The major currency denominations are the U.S. dollar, yen, and euro. (70 to 75 percent of Eurobonds are denominated in the U.S. dollar.) The central bank of a country can protect its currency from being used. Japan, for example, prohibited the yen from being used for Eurobond issues of its corporations until 1984. 2. Non-registered: Eurobonds are usually issued in countries in which there is little regulation. As a result, many Eurobonds are unregistered, issued as bearer bonds. (Bearer form means that the bond is unregistered, there is no record to identify the owners, and these bonds are usually kept on deposit at depository institution). While this feature provides confidentiality, it has created some problems in countries such as the U.S., where regulations require that security owners be registered on the books of issuer. 3. Credit risk: Compared to domestic corporate bonds, Eurobonds have fewer protective covenants, making them an attractive financing instrument to corporations, but riskier to bond investors. Eurobonds differ in term of their default risk and are rated in terms of quality ratings. 4. Maturities: The maturities on Eurobonds vary. Many have intermediate terms (2 to 10 years), referred to as Euronotes, and long terms (10-30 years), and called Eurobonds. There are also short-term Europaper and Euro Medium-term notes.
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5. Other features:
a)

Like many securities issued today, Eurobonds often are sold with many innovative features. For example:

Dual-currency Eurobonds pay coupon interest in one currency and principal in another. b) Option currency Eurobond offers investors a choice of currency. For instance, a sterling/Canadian dollar bond gives the holder the right to receive interest and principal in either currency. A number of Eurobonds have special conversion features. One type of convertible Eurobond is a dual-currency bond that allows the holder to convert the bond into stock or another bond that is denominated in another currency. 2. A number of Eurobonds have special warrants attached to them. Some of the warrants sold with Eurobonds include those giving the holder the right to buy stock, additional bonds, currency, or gold.
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Q3. What is arbitrage? Explain with the help of suitable example a tow-way and a threeway arbitrage. Ans:- Arbitrage is the activity of exploiting imbalances between two or more markets. Foreign money exchangers operate their entire businesses on this principle. They find tourists who need the convenience of a quick cash exchange. Tourists exchange cash for less than the market rate and then the money exchanger converts those foreign funds into the local currency at a higher rate. The difference between the two rates is the spread or profit. There are plenty of other instances where one can engage in the practice arbitrage. In some cases, one market does not know about or have access to the other market. Alternatively, arbitrageurs can take advantage of varying liquidities between markets. The term 'arbitrage' is usually reserved for money and other investments as opposed to imbalances in the price of goods. The presence of arbitrageurs typically causes the prices in different markets to converge: the prices in the more expensive market will tend to decline and the opposite will ensue for the cheaper market. The the efficiency of the market refers to the speed at which the disparate prices converge. Engaging in arbitrage can be lucrative, but it does not come without risk. Perhaps the biggest risk is the potential for rapid fluctuations in market prices. For example, the spread between two markets can fluctuate during the time required for the transactions themselves. In cases where prices fluctuate rapidly, would-be arbitrageurs can actually lose money. There are basically two types of arbitrage. One is two-way arbitrage and the other is threeway arbitrage. The more popular of the two is the two-way forex arbitrage.

In the international market the currency is expressed in the form AAA/BBB. AAA denotes the price of one unit of the currency which the trader wishes to trade and it refers the base currency. While BBB is international three-letter code 0f the counter currency. For instance, when the value of EUR/USD is 1.4015, it means 1 euro = 1.4015 dollar. If the speculator is shrewd and has a deeper understanding of the forex market, then he can make use of this opportunity to make big profits. Forex arbitrage transactions are quite easy once you understand the method by which the business is conducted. For instance, the exchange rates of EUR/USD = 0.652, EUR/GBP = 1.312 and USD/GBP = 2.012. You can buy around 326100 Euros with $500,000. Using the Euros you buy approximately 248420 Pounds which is sold for approximately $500,043 and thereby earning a small profit of $43. To make a large profit on triangular arbitrage you should be ready to invest a large amount and deal with trustworthy brokers. Arbitrage is one of the strategies of forex trading. To make a substantial income out of this strategy you need to make an enormous amount of investment. Though theoretically it is considered to be risk free, in reality it is not the case. You should enter into this transaction only if you have deeper understanding of forex market. Hence, it would be wise not to devote much time in looking out for arbitrage opportunities. However, forex arbitrage is a rare opportunity and if it comes your way, then grab it without any hesitation. Three Way (Triangular) Arbitrage The three way arbitrate inefficiency now arises when we consider a case in which the EUR/JPY exchange rate is NOT equivalent to the EUR/USD/USD/JPY case so there must be something going on in the market that is causing a temporary inconsistency. If this inconsistency becomes large enough one can enter trades on the cross and the other pairs in opposite directions so that the discrepancy is corrected. Let us consider the following example : EUR/JPY=107.86 EUR/USD=1.2713 USD/JPY = 84.75 The exchange rate inferred from the above would be 1.2713*84.75 which would be 107.74 and the actual rate is 107.86. What we can do now is short the EUR/JPY and go long EUR/USD and USD/JPY until the correlation is reestablished. Sounds easy, right ? The fact is that there are many important problems that make the exploitation of this three way arbitrage almost impossible.