Budget 2013: Govt to borrow Rs 4.84 lakh cr to bridge fiscal deficit

Indicating worsening public finances, the government today pegged its net borrowing for 2013-14 at Rs 4.84 lakh crore, about Rs 17,000 crore higher than the revised estimates of the current fiscal.

"The net market borrowing of the Central Government through issue of dated securities in 2013-14 is estimated to be Rs 4,84,000 crore," as per Budget document presented by Finance Minister P Chidambaram in Parliament. During 2012-13, the government borrowed Rs 4,67,384.06 crore from the market.
The higher government borrowings will have a negative impact for the private sector. This is because government borrowings next fiscal would crowd out resources available for the private sector, more than it did in 2012-13. The higher borrowing will also put pressure on inflation, analysts said. However, despite market borrowing going up, the fiscal deficit for the next fiscal has been pegged at 4.8 per cent, against 5.1 per cent estimated for 2012-13.