This is below the typical borrowing level of around 60% in the first half of a fiscal year.
The issuance of sovereign green bonds would be announced in the second half of FY24. The government has already borrowed ₹16,000 crore through these bonds in this fiscal year.
The first-half borrowing is expected to be completed in 26 weekly installments of ₹31,000-39,000 crore, the finance ministry said on Wednesday.
The share of loans under different maturities will be: 3 years (6.31%), 5 years (11.71%), 7 years (10.25%), 10 years (20.50%), 14 years (17. 57%), 30 years (16.10%) and 40 years (17.57%), he added.
“The government has sought to spread out its borrowing plan so as not to disrupt the market or drive up yields,” an official said.
The benchmark 10-year G-sec yield fell 3 basis points on Wednesday to close at 7.29%.
The government will continue to undertake transfer operations to smooth the buyout profile, the ministry said. Bonds worth ₹1.59 lakh crore are due to mature in the first half of this financial year and ₹2.81 lakh crore in the second half. In addition, the government appears to have retained some leeway to spend in the second half of the fiscal year.
CIFAR Chief Economist Aditi Nayar said: “Gross borrowing in the first half is less initial than in previous years, given the surge in repayments in the second half. With this, net borrowing will be less unevenly distributed between the two halves.”
It will again exercise the green shoe option to retain an additional subscription of up to ₹2,000 crore against each of the securities listed in the auction notification.
Weekly borrowing through treasury bills is expected to reach ₹32,000 crore in the first quarter of FY24. ₹40 lakh crore a year ago.
There will be an issue of ₹12,000 crore under the 91-day bucket, ₹12,000 crore under the 182-day bucket, and ₹8,000 crore under the 364-day bucket in each weekly auction during the June quarter.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday rejected all offers of 91-day Treasury bills. The plan was to sell ₹9,000 crore of such papers.
The central bank has set the average means and advances limit for the first half of the year at ₹1.5 crore lakh to deal with temporary mismatches in the government account, the ministry said.
