Government to borrow Rs 7.02 lakh crore in first six months of next fiscal

Government borrowing calendar for 2019-20: The Union government will borrow Rs 7.02 lakh crore in the first six months of 2019-20. In the interim budget presented last month, the government has estimated that it will need to borrow over Rs 7 lakh crore in the next fiscal. However, according to the government’s borrowing calendar for 2019-20, the government will reach this amount within first six months next fiscal.

The government will borrow Rs 4.42 lakh crore or almost 63% of the amount through Government of India’s Dated Securities. The rest amount of Rs 2.6 lakh crore 37% amount will be raised through auction of treasury bills with a maturity period of 91, 182 and 364 days.

In the borrowing calendar prepared in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India, the government has announced that it will borrow Rs 1.02 lakh crore through dated government securities in first six weeks of the next fiscal. This amount will be borrowed in 6 tranches of an equal amount of Rs 17,000 crore each. The Union government will issue Government of India Dated Securities with a varying maturity of from 1 to 4 years to 25 years and above.

Similarly, the Union government will borrow the entire amount of Rs 4.42 lakh crore in 26 tranches of Rs 17,000 crore each over the period of next six months.
All the 26 tranches will be issued in form of Government of India Dated Securities with varying maturities, ranging from 1-4 years to 25 years and above.

All these auctions will be conducted through non-competitive bidding route and 5% government securities will be reserved for retail investors.

Similarly, the government will raise Rs 2.6 lakh crore between April and June through auction of treasury bills of varying short term maturity period. According to the government’s borrowing calendar for 2019-20, it will raise Rs 1.17 lakh crore through treasury bills with a maturity period of Rs 91 days. It will also raise Rs 91,000 crore and Rs 52,000 crore through the treasury bills with a maturity period of 182 days and 364 days respectively.

The auction of treasury bills will be conducted on 13 dates, beginning on April 3 and ending on June 26.