Finance Ministry, RBI to finalise market borrowing programme on March 27

NEW DELHI: The Finance Ministry and the Reserve Bank of India are likely to finalise the market borrowing programme for the first half of the next financial year on March 27.

"The meeting for deciding the borrowing plans for the April-September period of 2012-13 may happen on March 27," official sources said, adding the efforts would be made to complete the government's borrowing programme in a non-disruptive manner.

The government borrows funds from the market to bridge revenue-expenditure gap and also roll over the past debts which mature for repayment.

While unveiling the Budget proposals for 2012-13, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had said that the net market borrowings for the fiscal would be Rs 4.79 lakh crore, up from Rs 4.36 lakh crore estimated in the current fiscal.

Last year the government had exceeded the budgeted borrowing target by over Rs 92,000 crore as high subsidy expenditure led to overshooting of government finances.

For 2011-12, the government's gross market borrowings has been estimated at around Rs 5.1 lakh crore.

The government plans to bring down fiscal deficit in the 2012-13 fiscal to 5.1 per cent, from 5.9 per cent in the current fiscal.

"This year we are trying to keep the subsidies under check. So we expect the borrowing to be as per the budget target," the official said.

The government plans to bring down subsidies to less than 2 per cent of GDP in the 2012-13 fiscal, from 2.5 per cent in the current fiscal.