Centre to borrow Rs 8.45 lakh crore via bonds in April-September 2022

Finance Ministry (Image: PTI)

The central government will borrow Rs 8.45 lakh crore from the market in the first half of FY23 by issuing bonds, the finance ministry said on March 31.

While this sum amounts to 56.5 percent of the full-year borrowing programme of Rs 14.95 lakh crore as spelt out by the Budget for 2022-23, it is 59 percent of the programme after adjusting for the bond switch operation the government held with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on January 31, a day before the Budget was presented in Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The government will borrow money from the market in the first half of FY23 through weekly auctions of its bonds ranging, with the auctions ranging in size from Rs 32,000 crore to Rs 33,000 crore.

The break-up of the April-September borrowing programme is as follows:

* 6.15 percent of the borrowing will be via bonds maturing in 2 years

* 13.85 percent of the borrowing will be via bonds maturing in 5 years

* 10.77 percent of the borrowing will be via bonds maturing in 7 years

* 20.00 percent of the borrowing will be via bonds maturing in 10 years

* 15.98 percent of the borrowing will be via bonds maturing in 14 years

* 13.25 percent of the borrowing will be via bonds maturing in 30 years

* 13.85 percent of the borrowing will be via bonds maturing in 40 years

* 6.15 percent of the borrowing will be via floating rate bonds

"To take care of temporary mismatches in Government account, the Reserve Bank of India has fixed the Ways and Mean Advances (WMA) limit for H1 of FY 2022-23 at Rs 1.50 lakh crore," the finance ministry said in a statement.

In additions to the bonds, the Centre will also issue Treasury bills worth Rs 33,000-34,000 crore every week in the first quarter of FY23 amounting to a net borrowing of Rs 2.40 lakh crore.