Centre borrows less than planned amid second wave of Covid-19 pandemic

The central government has borrowed less than what it planned for the first two months of the ongoing fiscal year, as the second wave of the pandemic put on hold most of the government’s planned expenditure.

Compared with last year, though, the borrowing has been higher. In 2020-21, the government had increased the borrowing programme in May, and so the pressure in the market came from mid-May. The borrowing in 2021-22 up to May-end was Rs 1.84 trillion, whereas, the plan was to borrow Rs 2.32 trillion through weekly auctions.

This is Rs 48,000 crore less than what was planned. However, the