Centre borrows Rs 94,030 crore in the frist half

Centre’s gross borrowings stood at Rs 94,030 crore so far even as it aims to mop up Rs 25,000 crore during October 2003-Feb 2004. With gross borowings of Rs 94,030 crore so far, government has completed 56.6 per cent of the Rs 1,66,230 crore estimated for this fiscal, official sources said here.

With redemptions at Rs 31,716 crore, Centre’s net mop up stood at Rs 62,314 crore, representing 58.1 per cent of the Rs 1,07,194 crore budgeted for 2003-04. Budget secretary D. Swarup said government would borrow Rs 5,000 crore for the next five months, totalling Rs 25,000 crore for the second half of this fiscal. Sources said that no auction was scheduled for the last month of this fiscal and about 20 per cent of the total issuance would be floating rate bonds.

The mop up of Rs 25,000 crore was ‘significantly’ lower than the budget estimate of Rs 60,000 crore for the second half of 2003-04.