Total Public Debt Rises To Rs 147 Lakh Crore By The End Of September This Year: Govt Report

The central government’s fiscal deficit in the first half of FY22-23 reached 37.3 per cent of the full-year target, the report said

The rupee depreciated by 3.11 per cent between July 1, 2022, and September 30, 2022

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The total government debt increased to Rs 147.19 lakh crore at the end of September this fiscal year from Rs 145.72 lakh crore in June, according to the latest data on public debt. The Public Debt Management Cell (PDMC) of the Budget Division which brings out a quarterly report on debt management on a regular basis, released its quarterly on Tuesday said. 

This is a quarter-on-quarter increase of 1 per cent in the second quarter of 2022-23. Public debt accounted for 89.1 per cent of total gross liabilities in September-end 2022, up from 88.3 per cent as on June 30, the report said. 

In FY22-23, the gross fiscal deficit (FD) of the Central Government was budgeted at Rs 16,61,196 crore. Around 6.4 per cent of GDP as compared to the revised estimate of Rs 15,91,089 crore (6.71 per cent of GDP) for FY21-22. The central government’s fiscal deficit in the first half of FY22-23 reached 37.3 per cent of the full-year target, the report said.  

On government’s expenditure side, capital expenditure touched 45.7 per cent of the full-year budget target in FY22-23 in contrast to 41.4 per cent in the corresponding period last year. Out of the total revenue expenditure of Rs 14.8 lakh crore, nearly 30 per cent of the expenditure (Rs. 4.4 lakh crore) was on account of interest payments. 

Nearly 29.6 per cent of the outstanding dated securities had a residual maturity of less than five years, it added.

In Q2, the Central Government raised an amount worth Rs 4,06,000 crore through dated securities, as against notified amount of Rs 4,22,000 crore in the borrowing calendar, while repayments were at Rs 92,371.15 crore. 

The weighted average yield of primary issuances hardened to 7.33 per cent in Q2 FY23 from 7.23 per cent in Q1 of FY23, it said, adding that the weighted average maturity of new issuances of dated securities was lower at 15.62 years in Q2 of FY23 as compared to 15.69 years in Q1 of FY23. 

During July-September 2022, the Central Government did not raise any amount through the Cash Management Bills. RBI also did not conduct Open Market operations for government securities during the quarter. 

The net daily average liquidity absorption by RBI under Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) including Marginal Standing Facility and Special Liquidity Facility was at Rs 1,28,323.37 crore during the quarter, it said. 

The Public Debt Management report also said that the yields on government securities in secondary market hardened in short-end curve due to near-term inflation and liquidity concern though softening of yield was observed for the longer tenure securities during the second quarter.

The Monetary Policy Committee decided to hike the policy repo rate by 100 basis points, i.e., from 4.90 per cent to 5.90 per cent during Q2 largely with an intention to contain inflation. The ownership pattern of central government securities indicates that share of commercial banks stood at 38.3 per cent at September-end 2022 as against 38.04 per cent on June 30, it said.

The report said that the foreign exchange reserves stood at $532.66 billion as on September 30, 2022, moderated from $638.64 billion on September 24, 2021. The rupee depreciated by 3.11 per cent between July 1, 2022, and September 30, 2022. The value of rupee against the dollar as on July 1 stood at 79.09 as against 81.55 on September 30, it said.