New Delhi, The Central government has switched securities worth Rs 40,109 crore out of the budgeted Rs 50,000 crore in the current fiscal, according to the RBI.
“The budgeted gross market borrowing of the Central government for 2019-20 at Rs 7,10,000 crore is about 24.3 per cent higher than last year. The Central government completed 62.3 per cent of its budgeted gross market borrowings as on September 30, 2019 (50.4 per cent in the corresponding period of 2018-19).
“The Union Budget 2019-20 provides for consolidation measures like switching of securities budgeted at Rs 50,000 crore, of which Rs 40,109 crore worth of securities have already been switched,” the RBI said in its Monetary Policy Report.
In a switch operation, the government issues longer tenure bonds in lieu of short-term securities, which, in effect, postpones an upcoming maturity of its debt to a later date. Switching spreads out the redemption pressure of the maturing debts on the government over a longer period of time.
The RBI also said outstanding liabilities of the government are budgeted to marginally decline to 69.6 per cent of GDP in 2019-20 from 69.8 per cent in 2018-19, driven by the Centre. The debt servicing capacity of the general government has improved in 2018-19 with the interest payments as per cent to revenue receipts exhibiting a decline.
The RBI is the government’s debt manager, and has managed the Centre’s market borrowing programme during 2019-20 so far as per the planned issuance schedule, it said.
