FinMin to decide on borrowing programme for Oct-Mar on Sep 28

The govt, as per the Budget papers, plans to borrow Rs 6.01 lakh crore from the market in the current fiscal

The Finance Ministry will decide on the borrowing calendar for second half (October-March) of the current financial year on September 28.

The government, as per the Budget papers, plans to borrow Rs 6.01 lakh crore from the market in the current fiscal.

It had planned to borrow Rs 3.6 lakh crore from markets in the first half of the next financial year, which is over 50 per cent of the annual target.

"The meeting for deciding the second half borrowing calendar is on September 28. It will decide on the borrowing requirements of the government for the remaining months," a senior official said.

Borrowing for this period will also be adjusted according to the response of the Sovereign Gold Bond scheme, which was approved by the Cabinet yesterday.

The government borrows money from the markets through T-bills and other instruments to fund its fiscal deficit.

Besides officials from the Economic Affairs department of Finance Ministry, officials from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) would also be present at the meeting.

The government had borrowed Rs 5.92 lakh crore in 2014-15. The net borrowings in 2015-16 will be Rs 4.56 lakh crore, after considering repayments of past loans and interest.

Government plans to reduce the deficit to 3.9 per cent of GDP this fiscal, from 4 per cent last fiscal.