Govt to adhere to latest borrowing schedule

The government today said it will stick to its borrowing schedule as drawn up in January for 2008-09, as of now.

According to the revised borrowing schedule the government would raise Rs 50,000 crore, while the earlier borrowing programme was for Rs 35,000 crore in the last quarter.

"As of now, the current (borrowing) schedule is sufficient for the whole fiscal," Economic Affairs Secretary Ashok Chawla told reporters here.

However, when asked if there could be any additional borrowing in March, Chawla said, "We will see later."

The Reserve Bank had revised its indicative calendar for the fourth quarter of 2008-09, superseding the borrowing programme announced on December 5.

To offset the impact of the stimulus packages, the Centre had decided to borrow Rs 50,000 crore from the market, Rs 15,000 crore more than what was planned in December.