The government's debt in the first three months of this financial year increased by 4.9% to Rs 37,52,576 crore over the previous quarter, the Finance Ministry said today.
"The total public debt (excluding liabilities that are not classified under public debt) of the Government increased to Rs 37,52,576 crore at end-June 2012 from Rs 35,78,244 crore at end-March 2012," the ministry's April-June rpt April-June quarter report on Public Debt Management revealed.
Internal debt constituted 90.6% compared with 90.1% at the end of March, 2012 quarter.
The report pointed out that marketable securities (consisting of rupee denominated dated securities and treasury bills) accounted for 80.9% of the total public debt, compared with 79.9% at end-March 2012.
"The outstanding internal debt of the Government at Rs 33,98,154 crore constituted 33.4% of GDP compared with 36.4% at end-March 2012," the ministry added.
In the first three months of the current fiscal, the report, said liquidity conditions in the economy remained generally tight with liquidity deficit remaining above the RBI's stated comfort zone of about one% of Net Demand and Time Liabilities (NDTL) of scheduled commercial banks.
The net amount provided under Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) operations remained generally high during the quarter. The Reserve Bank also conducted open market operations to support liquidity and purchased securities worth Rs 54,573 crore during the quarter.
As per report, gross tax collections during April-May period at 7.8% of budget estimate (BE) were higher than 6.6% a year ago.
In the direct taxes, corporation tax collections at Rs 10,137 crore showed a healthy growth.
Personal income tax collections at Rs 25,999 crore also showed a buoyant growth of 44.2% against budgeted growth rate of 13.9% for 2012-13.
Among the major indirect taxes, collections from customs and excise duties showed negative growth of 2% and 4.6%, respectively, against budgeted growth rates of 22% and 29.1%. Service tax collections increased by 37.7% during April-May 2012-13 as against BE growth rate of 30.5%.
