New Delhi, Oct 10: The Centre’s gross borrowings stood at Rs 94,030 crore so far even as it aims to mop up Rs 25,000 crore during October ’03-February ’04. With gross borrowings of Rs 94,030 crore so far, the government has completed 56.6% of the Rs 1,66,230 crore estimated for this fiscal, sources said here. With redemptions at Rs 31,716 crore, the Centre’s net mop-up stood at Rs 62,314 crore, representing 58.1% of the Rs 1,07,194 crore budgeted for ’03-04.

Budget secretary D Swarup has said the government would borrow Rs 5,000 crore for the next five months, totalling Rs 25,000 crore for the second half of this fiscal. Sources said that no auction was scheduled for the last month of this fiscal and about 20% of the total issuance would be floating rate bonds.
The mop-up of Rs 25,000 crore was “significantly” lower than the budget estimate of Rs 60,000 crore for the second half of FY04. They said less requirement for borrowings was due to a rise in non-debt capital receipts with states repaying Rs 32,000 crore under the debt swap scheme. Bureau Report