The government plans to borrow Rs 8.88 lakh crore in the first half of FY2023-24. The borrowing plan was finalised by the government in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India. The Centre has projected a gross market borrowing of Rs 15.32 lakh crore for FY24, out of which 57.55 per cent is planned to be borrowed in H1.
The Ministry of Finance stated that the borrowing is scheduled to be completed in 26 weekly tranches of Rs 31,000-39,000 crore. The ministry said that the borrowing will be spread under 3, 5, 7, 10, 14, 30 and 40 year securities.
Here’s a lowdown on the borrowing under different maturities:
The Sovereign Green Bonds issuance will be announced in the second half. The ministry stated that the government will continue carrying out switch operations to smoothen redemption profile.
The Centre will also continue exercising the greenshoe option to retain an additional subscription of up to Rs 2,000 crore against each of the securities indicated in the auction notification.
In the first quarter of FY24, the weekly borrowing through issuance of treasury bills is expected to be Rs 32,000 crore with net borrowing of Rs 1.42 lakh crore during the quarter. The net borrowing in FY23 Q1 was Rs 2.40 lakh crore.
There will be issuance of Rs 12,000 crore under 91 DTBs, Rs 12,000 crore under 182 DTBs and Rs 8,000 crore under 364 DTBs through each weekly auction to be conducted during the quarter, the ministry stated.
The Reserve Bank of India has fixed the Ways and Mean Advances (WMA) limit for H1 of FY 2023-24 at Rs 1,50,000 crore in order to manage temporary mismatches in government accounts.