Govt to borrow Rs 2 lakh crore in next six month

Having already completed about 65 per cent of its market borrowing programme for 2012-13, the government today said it will raise only Rs 2 lakh crore in the second half of the fiscal to ensure adequate availability of cash for the private sector.

"The government will borrow Rs 2 lakh crore in remaining period the current fiscal," Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram told reporters here after a meeting to decide the borrowing calender for the second half of 2012-13.

"We will complete second half borrowing by end of February...we will try to keep fiscal deficit target," he said.

According to Budget estimate, the gross market borrowing is planned Rs 5.69 lakh crore for 2012-13.

The government has already borrowed Rs 3.7 lakh crore in the first half ending September 30, which is 65 per cent of the total planned borrowing.

The front-loading of borrowing was done as part of its strategy to make available capital to private sector in the last six months of 2012-13.

"It has been decided that short-term borrowing through T-Bills for third quarter will be Rs 13,000 crore. With redemption of T-Bills for the period at Rs 1,49,000 crore, net amount will be (-) Rs 19,000 crore," he said.

The funding requirements of the government for the second half of the current fiscal have been drawn based on projected cash flows in the government account, he said.

Besides, he said, the funding gap, the size of the government market borrowing for the second half of 2012-13 needs to consider the market demand for securities and evolving macro-economic conditions and their implications for the debt market.

He further said, the government is committed to bring about reforms and go on path of fiscal consolidation.

For the 2012-13 fiscal, the government has pegged the fiscal deficit at Rs 5.13 lakh crore or 5.1 per cent of GDP.

During 2011-12, the government borrowed over Rs 5.1 lakh crore from the market.
The borrowing had exceeded the budgeted borrowing target by over Rs 92,000 crore as high subsidy expenditure led to overshooting of government finances.