Mumbai : The government will raise Rs 2.49 lakh crore through market borrowings, including Rs 15,000 crore via sovereign gold bonds, in the second half of current fiscal year ending March 2016.
The government, as per the budget papers, plans to borrow a total of Rs 6.01 lakh crore from the market this fiscal. It had borrowed about Rs 3.5 lakh crore in the first half of the financial year, which is over 50 per cent of the annual target.
The government will borrow Rs 2.34 lakh crore through issue of Treasury Bills. In addition, Rs 15,000 crore would be raised through sovereign gold bonds, as per an RBI statement. The second half borrowing programme was decided at a meeting chaired by Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das here on Monday. The government borrows money from the market through T-bills and other instruments to fund its fiscal deficit.
The government will also be shortly issuing sovereign gold bonds to raise funds. The Cabinet earlier this month cleared the issuance of gold bonds with a view to check the demand for physical gold.
Besides officials from the Economic Affairs department of Finance Ministry, officials from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) were also be present at the meeting. “The Government/RBI will continue to have the flexibility to bring about modifications in the above calendar in terms of notified amount, issuance period, maturities… depending upon the requirement of the Government, evolving market conditions and other relevant factors,” the RBI statement added.
The government had borrowed Rs 5.92 lakh crore in 2014-15. The net borrowings in 2015-16 will be Rs 4.56 lakh crore, after considering repayments of past loans and interest.
