No one questioned Sovereign bond issuance: Power Secy S C Garg

Says sovereign bonds were aimed at easing pressure on domestic availability of resources; 19 of the twenty G-20 nations are already issuing them

Newly-appointed secretary under the ministry of power Subhash Chandra Garg, who was until recently the finance and economic affairs secretary, said while he was in the finance ministry, no one opposed the idea of sovereign bonds, including the government.

Garg, who was shifted to the power ministry on Thursday, continued to defend the Union Budget proposal of raising resources via overseas foreign currency sovereign bonds in the current fiscal year. The issuance was estimated to be $10 billion. Following negative response from several stakeholders, it was reported that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had asked the finance ministry to issue rupee-denominated