Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, during the budget presentation on Wednesday, said net borrowing from the dated securities market is estimated at Rs 11.8 lakh crore to finance the budget deficit in 2023-24.
“Funding for the balance is expected to come from smaller savings and other sources. Gross market borrowing is estimated at Rs 15.4 lakh crore,” she said.
The government has raised Rs 12.93 lakh crore till Jan 27, which is 91% of the overall borrowing target of Rs 14.21 lakh crore estimated for 2022-23.
The indebtedness of the Center and the state governments is equal to 83% of the annual gross domestic product (GDP).
The Minister of Finance maintained the budget deficit target at 6.4% despite an increase in the subsidy bill.
“In 2023-2024, total non-borrowing revenue and total expenditure are estimated at Rs 27.2 lakh crore and Rs 45 lakh crore, respectively. Net tax revenue is estimated at Rs 23.3 lakh crore,” said she declared. It set the fiscal deficit at 5.9 percent of GDP for FY24.
“In my budget speech for 2021-22, I had announced that we planned to continue on the path of fiscal consolidation, reaching a budget deficit below 4.5% by 2025-26 with a fairly steady decline over the period. We have adhered to this and I reiterate my intention to bring the budget deficit below 4.5% of GDP by 2025-26,” she said.
Sitharaman had pegged gross borrowing to the market through dated securities for 2022-23 at Rs 14.95,000 crore.
However, the government decided in September 2022 to reduce gross borrowing to Rs 14.21 lakh crore in FY23. Gross borrowing for 2021-2022 was Rs 12,05,500 crore.
On net borrowing, the government estimated a record Rs 11.6 lakh crore from the market in 2022-23.
This was nearly Rs 2 lakh crore more than the current year budget estimate of Rs 9.7 lakh crore.
Total government borrowing in the market for 2022-23 is estimated at Rs 11,58,719 crore, according to the previous budget document.
The revised estimates for the same for 2021-2022 are Rs 8,75,771 crore against the budget estimates of Rs 9,67,708 crore.
