Government may borrow less in FY13: sources

The government is likely to borrow less in the new financial year that begins on April 1 than in FY13 because of its surplus cash balance, two government sources told Reuters on Monday.

Lower government borrowing could help bolster India's growth prospects by reducing borrowing costs for private investors and facilitating a pick-up in capital investments, which are projected to hit at least a five-year low this fiscal.

New Delhi has built up a cash surplus of about Rs 80,000 crore as a result of Finance Minister P Chidambaram's deep spending cuts to keep the fiscal deficit down at 5.3% of gross domestic product this fiscal.

"Our borrowing requirement next year will come down, but the (fiscal) deficit number will remain unchanged," said one of the two senior officials with direct knowledge of the matter.

India has set a target of cutting its fiscal deficit to 4.8% of GDP in the next fiscal.

The official, however, said the government is still to work out how much it needs to borrow in FY14. Chidambaram will reveal the borrowing plans in his budget speech on February 28.

The government is on track to borrow Rs 5.7 lakh crore by issuing bonds in the current fiscal that ends in March. It has thus far raised Rs 5.48 lakh crore and will borrow the remainder by February 22.

Faced with a tough task of trimming a swollen fiscal deficit that has put India's investment-grade credit rating in peril, Chidambaram has reduced budgeted spending by about Rs 1.1 lakh crore in the current financial year, some 8% of budgeted outlay.

Although those cuts have tightened market liquidity, they have helped shore up government coffers.

"We are intentionally piling up cash to meet redemption requirements," said another official. "You cannot repay next year's redemptions with this year's borrowing."

Government bonds worth about Rs 95,000 crore are due for redemption in FY14.