NEW DELHI: A day after the government announced its third stimulus package for the economy, the finance ministry has ruled out the need for any extra borrowing other than Rs 12 lakh crore already planned. “We are comfortably placed at the moment and when we had revised our borrowing target, we had accounted for this stimulus. So, there is no question of extra borrowing. At least for the time being,” said a senior official from the finance ministry.
The centre had revised its borrowing target for the current financial year to Rs 12 lakh crore against the earlier Rs 7.80 lakh crore announced in the Union Budget for this fiscal, However despite a widening fiscal deficit, low revenue collections and divestment proceeds, the Centre had said that it would borrow Rs 4.34 lakh crore in the second half of the financial year to stay within the Rs 12 lakh crore limit.
At that time, Secretary of Economic Affairs Tarun Bajaj had maintained that the decision had been taken keeping in view that revenue collections would improve and had kept some headroom for state borrowings and any further stimulus packages.
On Thursday, the government had announced a fresh stimulus package pegged at Rs 2.65 lakh crore, but experts have pointed out that the real burden for the government due to the measure during this financial year will only be around Rs 1.30 lakh crore, since many schemes will be implemented over 2-5 years.
According to the official, the latest stimulus is well within the planned borrowing limit. “The cost of EPFO scheme is Rs 6,000 crore but our estimate says at least 15-20 lakh people will be benefitted by it. So much thought had gone into the stimulus package,” the official said. However, officials also warn that “... the only matter of concern is if there is second wave of Covid-19 infections”.