Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Sep 25: The Central government will borrow Rs 7.86 lakh crore during the second half of the current financial year (FY27), including Rs 15,000 crore through Sovereign Green Bonds, the Finance Ministry said on Friday.
According to an official statement, the borrowing in the October-March period will be carried out through 23 weekly auctions.
With the planned borrowing, the government's total market borrowing for the full financial year is expected to reach Rs 15.9 lakh crore through dated securities.
In the Union Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had proposed total borrowing of Rs 17.2 lakh crore to finance the fiscal deficit, which has been budgeted at 4.3 per cent of GDP for FY27.
Meanwhile, India's fiscal deficit during the first four months of the current financial year stood at Rs 4.55 lakh crore, accounting for 26.8 per cent of the full-year target.
The deficit during the April-July period was lower than the Rs 4.7 lakh crore recorded during the corresponding period of the previous financial year, which had represented 29.9 per cent of the full-year estimate.
Government data showed that total receipts during April-July FY27 stood at Rs 13.07 lakh crore, while total expenditure was Rs 17.62 lakh crore. The receipts and expenditure accounted for 35.8 per cent and 32.9 per cent, respectively, of the budget estimates for the full financial year.
Revenue receipts during the four-month period stood at Rs 12.68 lakh crore. Of this, tax revenue amounted to Rs 8.45 lakh crore, while non-tax revenue stood at Rs 4.23 lakh crore.
Non-tax revenue received a boost after the Reserve Bank of India approved a dividend transfer of Rs 2.87 lakh crore to the Central government, compared with Rs 2.69 lakh crore transferred in the previous year.
The higher dividend transfer has strengthened the government's fiscal position and contributed to keeping the fiscal deficit lower during the initial months of the financial year.
The government had achieved its fiscal deficit target of 4.4 per cent of GDP in FY26. It has subsequently set a lower target of 4.3 per cent of GDP for FY27 as part of its ongoing fiscal consolidation process.