Govt to raise Rs 6.61 lakh cr via market borrowings in H2 FY 2024-25
New Delhi: The Central government, in collaboration with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), announced on Thursday its plan to raise Rs 6.61 lakh crore through market borrowings during the October-March period of the current financial year 2024-25.
This schedule, covering the second half (H2) of the fiscal year, is intended to provide transparency and stability to the Government Securities Market and assist both institutional and retail investors in planning their investments effectively.
According to the Finance Ministry's press release, all auctions under this borrowing calendar will include a non-competitive bidding facility, reserving 5% of the notified amount specifically for retail investors.
The plan also includes the issuance of government dated securities and Sovereign Green Bonds (SGrB) for the period from October 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025.
The Union Budget for 2024-25 had initially set the gross market borrowings for the current fiscal at Rs 14.01 lakh crore.
The government plans to raise Rs 2.47 trillion through treasury bills, which have a maximum maturity of 364 days.
During the third quarter of FY 2024-25, the weekly borrowing through treasury bills is projected to be Rs 19,000 crore for 13 weeks, with Rs 7,000 crore allocated for 91-day treasury bills, Rs 6,000 crore for 182-day treasury bills, and Rs 6,000 crore for 364-day treasury bills.
To address temporary cash flow mismatches in government accounts, the Reserve Bank of India has set the Ways and Means Advances (WMA) limit at Rs 50,000 crore for the second half of FY25.
“As hitherto, all the auctions covered by the calendar will have the facility of non-competitive bidding under which five per cent of the notified amount will be reserved for specified retail investors,” the finance ministry said.
In the interim Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had set a gross borrowing target of Rs 14.13 lakh crore through the issuance of dated securities to address revenue shortfalls in the upcoming financial year.
However, this target was reduced by Rs 12,000 crore in the final Budget presented in July, due to strong revenue collection.
The current fiscal year’s gross borrowing target is lower than the previous year’s estimate of Rs 15.43 lakh crore.
The government has also set a fiscal deficit target of 4.9% of GDP for the ongoing financial year.
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