NEW DELHI: The Centre’s total debt at the end of June 2024 quarter reached Rs 176 lakh crore, up 25% from Rs 141 lakh crore a year ago. Quarter-on-quarter, it rose 1.2%, much lower than 4.6% in the year-ago perio.
External debt accounted for Rs 9.78 lakh crore, up from Rs 8.50 lakh crore in the same period last year. Of the Rs 149 lakh crore internal loans, market loans (raised through government bonds) accounted for Rs 104.5 lakh crore, Rs 27 lakh was raised through securities against small savings, Rs 10.5 lakh crore through T-bills, and Rs 78,500 crore through gold bonds.
The government has maintained the borrowing target in the current financial year at Rs 14.1 lakh crore. The finance ministry on Thursday announced Rs 6.61 lakh crore borrowing plan in the second half of the current financial year. Though the government has maintained its FY25 borrowing target of Rs 14.01 lakh crore, analysts expect the government to cut down on borrowing this financial year.
According to Nomura, spending does not appear to have picked up after the initial boost. “It is possible that the GOI will underspend this year and therefore IGB issuance can be reduced,” it says.
Gaura Sen Gupta, chief economist at IDFC First Bank, feels there is scope for the fiscal deficit to undershoot the FY25 target of 4.9%, as this is a truncated year (due to the general election). She says the Centre has refrained from reducing G-Sec supply due to additional demand from index inclusion.
The government pays 19% of its total revenue collection in paying interest towards outstanding debt. For FY25, it has budgeted for `11.6 lakh crore in interest payment.
The Centre’s total debt at the end of June quarter is 54% of the country’s estimated GDP of Rs 326 lakh crore in FY25. Last year (FY24), the Centre’s debt/GDP ratio was at 57.5%. The Centre’s debt-to-GDP ratio has been falling since FY21, when it peaked at 62.75%.