Govt will not exceed or reduce market borrowings in FY24, says DEA Secretary Ajay Seth

The government is not looking to reduce or exceed its market borrowings for FY24 of Rs 15.43 lakh crore, Indian Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth said on Tuesday (September 26).

Responding to CNBC-TV18’s question on whether the government would borrow a lower amount from the market, especially when small savings collections are doing well, the secretary said: “Estimates at this point show that we can manage our borrowings from the market as shown in the report. budget, we don’t need to exceed it, nor do we see as many under-requirements.

Giving his point of view on the collection of small savings, the secretary explained: “4 months of collection of small savings represents approximately 1/3 of the annual objective. I wouldn’t want to draw any definitive conclusions over 4 months. “

Out of the gross market borrowing of Rs 15.43 lakh crore planned for the financial year 2023-24, the government has decided to borrow the balance amount of Rs 6.55 lakh crore (42.45 per cent of Rs 15.43 lakh crore) during the second half of the financial year 2023-24 (H2: FY 2023-24) through dated securities, including Rs 20,000 crore through issuance of Sovereign Green Bonds (SGrB).

In the process of issuing sovereign green bonds in FY24, Seth said the government was encouraged by the good market response last year. The opening of this year’s green bond borrowings will take place in the next quarter.

As per the dated securities schedule, the government plans to raise its first tranche of green bonds for FY24 between November 6 and 10 of Rs 5,000 crore, followed by three additional tranches of equal amounts but different maturities .

Asked about the government’s new 50-year security, the DEA secretary explained that the interaction of the government and the RBI with the market shows that “several investors are interested in long-term securities, longer than fixed-term securities.” 40 years since the government issued”. “This is once again a sign of very strong confidence in the Indian economy,” added the Secretary of State.

Seth said the government’s fiscal trends in terms of revenue, expenditure and other borrowing were in line with the budget estimates made in February. At this stage, the government intends to stick to these budget figures, thereby signaling its commitment to maintaining a budget deficit of 5.9 percent, he noted.