INDIAN DERIVATIVES MARKETS 1 Asani Sarkar

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I gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Arkadev Chatterjea, Neel Krishnan, Golaka C. Nath and V. Soundararajan in the preparation of this article. The views expressed in this article are mine alone, and do not necessarily reflect those of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, or the Federal Reserve System.

Derivatives OUP

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1. Rise of Derivatives The global economic order that emerged after World War II was a system where many less developed countries administered prices and centrally allocated resources. Even the developed economies operated under the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates. The system of fixed prices came under stress from the 1970s onwards. High inflation and unemployment rates made interest rates more volatile. The Bretton Woods system was dismantled in 1971, freeing exchange rates to fluctuate. Less developed countries like India began opening up their economies and allowing prices to vary with market conditions. Price fluctuations make it hard for businesses to estimate their future production costs and revenues. 2 Derivative securities provide them a valuable set of tools for managing this risk. This article describes the evolution of Indian derivatives markets, the popular derivatives instruments, and the main users of derivatives in India. I conclude by assessing the outlook for Indian derivatives markets in the near and medium term. 2. Definition and Uses of Derivatives A derivative security is a financial contract whose value is derived from the value of something else, such as a stock price, a commodity price, an exchange rate, an interest rate, or even an index of prices. In the Appendix, I describe some simple types of derivatives: forwards, futures, options and swaps. Derivatives may be traded for a variety of reasons. A derivative enables a trader to hedge some