Figure Watch

Free flowing funds

Critics call it hot money. Money which cannot be relied upon. But the money brought in by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) has also buoyed the markets. Since the FII are global operators they invest in the countries which are most lucrative.

During 1997, the money brought in by them went up steadily till June when it peaked at Rs 1,272 crore. But then the decline began. So much so, that in the last two months, FIIs actually pulled out their money from India. In November the FIIs took out Rs 550 crore and in December, another Rs 578 crore was taken out. And in the first two weeks of January, the FIIs made the markets poorer by Rs 265 crore. The situation is expected to improve in the next few weeks. Once a stable Government returns, so will the FIIs.