Call money closes firm at 9.50-10 pc

Mumbai, Mar 16 (UNI) Interbank call money rates today spiked to 9.50-10.00 per cent during the end of the session as against their earlier close of 5.40-5.50 per cent, traders said.

As the impact of the quarterly tax payments took effect, liquidity came under intense pressure resulting in the steep rise of inter bank rates.

The sharp mismatch between the LAF repo and reverse repo numbers was indicative of the extent of the cash crunch.

While the 3-day LAF reverse repo window saw the RBI receiving two bids worth a modest Rs 170 crore, 37 bids worth Rs 19,705 crore was received at 3-day LAF repo window.

The CBLO segment saw 394 bids worth Rs 18,303 crore getting traded in the range of 3.00-8.96 per cent.

With the liquidity crisis likely to only escalate in the days ahead, call rates are expected to remain on the higher side, traders added.

UNI