Government To Borrow Rs 5.92 Lakh Crore In Second Half Of FY23
The central government will be borrowing Rs 5.92 lakh crore (41.7% of the total 14.21 lakh crore) in second half of fiscal.
The central government's borrowing plan for the fiscal remains within projected gross market borrowings at Rs 14.21 lakh crore, despite an increase to the budgeted expenditure.
The central government, in consultation with the central bank, has finalised its borrowing programme for the fiscal and announced that it will be borrowing Rs 5.92 lakh crore (41.7% of the total Rs 14.21 lakh crore) in the second half.
This will be through dated securities, including ₹16,000 crore through issuance of Sovereign Green Bonds, a much-awaited measure from the Union Budget announcement earlier this year.
According to Aditi Nayar, chief economist at ICRA, buoyant revenues may be able to absorb a large portion of the higher-than-budgeted expenditure, which appears to have restricted the size of the H2 FY23 borrowing programme.
The gross market borrowing of Rs 5.76 lakh crore (40.5%) will be completed through 20 weekly auctions, the Ministry of Finance said in its release.
Details of the issuance of Sovereign Green Bonds will be announced separately, it said.
Devendra Kumar Pant, chief economist with India Ratings does not expect the announcement to disrupt the bond market as the bond supply is only optically lower to the projected borrowing, he said.
The projected gross market borrowings were Rs 14.31 lakh crore, of which the government has decided to borrow Rs 14.21 lakh crore during FY23.
In terms of treasury bills, weekly borrowing in the third quarter is expected to be Rs 22,000 crore with net borrowing of Rs(-)0.81 lakh crore during the quarter.
The three tenors of treasury bills will be issued through auctions in the quarter for a total of Rs 2,86,000 crore.
Rs 1,30,000 crore will be issued as Rs 10,000 crore 91-day treasury bills.
Rs 78,000 crore as Rs 6,000 crore 182-day treasury bills.
Rs 78,000 crore as Rs 6,000 crore 364-day treasury bills.
To account for temporary mismatches in government accounts, the RBI has fixed the ways and mean advances limit for the second half at Rs 50,000 crore.