Centre to borrow Rs8.88 trillion in H1
The ministry said the borrowing is scheduled to be completed in 26 weekly tranches of ₹31,000-39,000 crore
PremiumNEW DELHI : The central government has decided to make a gross market borrowing of ₹8.88 trillion in the first half of FY24, accounting for 57.55% of the overall market borrowings planned for the year, finance ministry said on Wednesday.
The borrowing programme is finalised in consultation with the RBI, the ministry said. The Centre has budgeted a gross market borrowing of ₹15.43 trillion in FY 2024.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had in her budget speech for FY24 projected a fiscal deficit of ₹17.86 trillion accounting for 5.9% of the nominal gross domestic product (GDP). Centre is pursuing a target of fiscal deficit lower than 4.5% of GDP by FY26.
The ministry said the borrowing is scheduled to be completed in 26 weekly tranches of ₹31,000-39,000 crore. The borrowing will be spread under securities of 3, 5, 7, 10, 14, 30 and 40 year maturity. Ten year securities account for the highest share of 20.5% among these.
The ministry also said that issuance of Sovereign Green Bonds will be announced in the second half (H2) of FY 2023-24.
The Government will continue to exercise green shoe option to retain an additional subscription of up to ₹2,000 crore against each of the securities indicated in the auction notification.
Weekly borrowing through issuance of Treasury Bills in the first quarter of FY24 is expected to be ₹32,000 crore with net borrowing of ₹1.42 trillion during the quarter, against net borrowing of ₹2.40 trillion in the comparable quarter of FY23.
The ministry also said that as in the past, all the auctions covered by the calendar will have the facility of non-competitive bidding scheme under which five per cent of the notified amount will be reserved for the specified retail investors. Also, the Centre or the RBI will continue to have the flexibility to bring about modifications in the borrowing calendar in terms of the notified amount, issuance period or maturity and to issue different types of instruments, including instruments having non-standard maturity, floating rate bonds (FRBs), consumer price index linked inflation indexed bonds (IIBs) etc., depending upon the requirement of the government, evolving market conditions and other relevant factors, after giving due notice to the market.
The ministry also said the borrowing calendar is subject to change, if circumstances so warrant.
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