The central government will borrow almost 57.55 per cent of its full-year target in the first half of the new fiscal year itself (H1FY24). In an official announcement, the Ministry of Finance (FinMin) has informed that by pacing this up, it will frontload its borrowing programme for the upcoming fiscal year, FY24.
According to the official updates, while the 57.55 per cent borrowings may look bigger, they are lower than the borrowings made in first six months of FY23. The latter stood at 59 per cent of the full-year target and considering the Indian economy is relatively insulated during this global economic downturn, all eyes are now on this borrowing.
“Of the gross market borrowing of Rs 15.43 trillion projected for FY24 in the Union Budget, Rs 8.88 trillion (57.55 per cent) is planned to be borrowed in the first half (H1),” the Ministry of Finance said in an official statement. It must be noted that over the last couple of years, the pattern has been to borrow 60-63 per cent.
In addition to this, the government borrowing programme is scheduled to be completed in about 26 weekly tranches. These will amount to Rs 31,000-39,000 crore each. The borrowing will also be spread over three-, five-, seven-, 10-, 14-, 30-, and 40-year securities.
However, despite such figures, the Ministry of Finance clarified that the issuance of sovereign green bonds (SGBs) will be officially announced in the second half of FY24 (H2FY24). The official statement reads, “To take care of temporary mismatches in government accounts, the Reserve Bank of India has fixed the ways and mean advances limit for H1FY24 at Rs 1,50,000 crore.”
