The debt market remains one of the least developed financial markets in the country. As a result, although the average household investor prefers to invest in fixed income securities, she/he has not been attracted to debt instruments. It is to the credit of the finance minister, therefore, that the major focus of this year's budget in regard to capital markets is the development of an active debt market. The budgetary proposals in this regard aim at the setting up of a major institution for ensuring efficient clearing and settlement of large-sized deals in debt instruments as also some fiscal/legislative reforms for widening the range of tradable debt instruments.
