The Indian government will borrow Rs 2.88 lakh crore during the April-September 2018 period, much lesser than the Rs 3.72 lakh crore it borrowed from April to September 2017, PTI reported.
The planned half-yearly borrowing for 2018-’19 is 47.56% of the total budgeted borrowing for the upcoming financial year. This 47.56% is lower than the average of 60-65% in the last five years. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had announced a borrowing target of Rs 6.06 lakh crore in the Budget.
Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg said the borrowing would be used to finance India’s projected fiscal deficit of 3.3% of its Gross Domestic Product for 2018-’19. “We are absolutely confident that we will be able to meet all expenditures without going into overdraft,” Garg told reporters in New Delhi.
In 2017-’18, the fiscal deficit had shot to 3.5% of GDP, as the government exceeded its borrowing target in November itself.
Garg added that the government would also withdraw up to Rs one lakh crore – Rs 25,000 crore more than in 2017-’18 – from the National Small Savings Fund to fund the fiscal deficit. He added that government securities of one to four years’ duration would also be introduced.
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