Government To Borrow Rs 8.45 Lakh Crore In April-September

The government plans to borrow Rs 8.45 lakh crore in the first half of the current fiscal, accounting for 59.4% of its planned borrowings for the year. Gross borrowings for the full fiscal are pegged at Rs 14.31 lakh crore.

Last year, the government had borrowed Rs 7.02 lakh crore in the first half, of its total borrowings of just over Rs 12 lakh crore.

The government typically borrows close to 60% of its full year requirements in the first half of the fiscal. This year, that front-loaded borrowing will have to contend with adverse market conditions amid rising global yields and elevated oil prices.

Borrowing Fine Print

The government's first half borrowing will be spread across 26 weekly tranches of about Rs 32,000-Rs 33,000 crore. Borrowing will be spread across securities ranging from two to 40-year securities and will also include floating rate bonds of various tenors.

The share of borrowing under different maturities will be:

Two year: 6.15%

Five year: 13.85%

Seven year: 10.77%

10 year: 20%

14 year: 15.98%

30 year: 13.25%

40 year: 13.85%.

Floating Rate Bonds: 6.15%

Alongside, the government also released its plan for shorter term borrowings via treasury bills. Weekly borrowing via treasury bills are expected to be Rs 33,000-Rs 34,000 crore with net borrowing of Rs 2.40 lakh crore during the quarter.

"There will be an issuance of Rs 13,000 crore under 91-day treasury bills, Rs 12,000-13,000 crore under 182-day treasury bills and Rs 8,000 crore under 364-day treasury bills in each auction to be held during the quarter," the statement added.

The government has planned the issuance of a green bond. Details of this will be announced when the preparatory work is complete, the government said.

The temporary mismatch in the government account will be taken care by the Ways and Mean Advances or WMA limit which has been set at Rs 1.5 lakh crore by the RBI.