Interim Budget: Gross market borrowing music to ears of bond market

In the current year, the gross market borrowings are estimated at Rs 15.4 trillion, and the net borrowing at Rs 11.8 trillion - the highest-ever government borrowing programme

The Interim Budget for FY25 on Thursday continued to focus on “four major castes” in India — poor, women, youth and farmers — and fulfilling their need, aspiration and welfare remained the government’s highest priority. But not at the cost of fiscal discipline.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman walked the talk and didn’t deviate from the path of fiscal consolidation. The revised estimate of fiscal deficit for the current financial year is 5.8 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), 10 basis points less than the earlier estimate. A hundred basis points make one percentage point.

For FY25, the target for