IGI Logo

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the government has mobilized a gross amount of Rs 5.77 lakh crore by issuing dated securities in the current financial year up to July 31, 2023. It has raised a net amount of Rs 4.18 lakh crore through the instrument in the same period. Government borrowing is done through various sources, including dated securities, treasury bills, external loans and state provident funds.

The minister said the central government has planned to raise net debt resources of Rs 17.99 lakh crore from various sources in 2023-24, mainly to finance its fiscal deficit. This amount is about 40 per cent of the total net size of the Union Budget 2023-24 of Rs 45.03 lakh crore. The government plans a gross market borrowing of Rs 15.4 lakh crore from dated securities in FY24. This is higher than the total borrowing of Rs 14.21 lakh crore in FY23. She said that borrowing by entities like the National Highway Authority of India is on the strength of their own balance sheet.

Sitharaman further said banks and financial institutions are required to submit the list of wilful defaulters of Rs 25 lakh and above to credit information companies (CICs), and CICs have also been advised to disseminate the information pertaining to suit filed accounts of wilful defaulters on their respective websites as per the RBI guidelines. Accordingly, she said, lists of suit-filed wilful defaulters of Rs 25 lakh and above are available in the public domain on the websites of Credit Information Companies (CICs).