Referring the excess SLR holdings of banks, the central bank has reiterated its demand for a statutory ceiling on public debt to control its rising level. It has made a strong case for checking the rising public debt as the ratio of interest payment to revenue receipt is increasing due to the rising level of centre's borrowings. As on July 16, 1999 SLR holding by banks was to the tune of Rs 2,60,194 crore.

"Assuming the deposit growth at 15-20 per cent which translates to an increase of Rs 1,30,000 crore during 1999-2000, the SLR required to be maintained by banks would be in the region of Rs 32,500 crore which is less than the level of excess SLR holding," the report said.According to the report, since 1990-91, the borrowing programme of the centre increased ten-fold from Rs 11,000 crore to about Rs 1,00,000 crore for both centre and state while the stipulated level of SLR holding came down to 25 per cent from 38.5 per cent.