Govt hikes market borrowing limit by over 50% to Rs 12 trillion

The government on Friday increased its market borrowing estimate by staggering Rs 4.2 trillion to Rs 12 trillion for the current fiscal to deal with the expected shortfall in revenue due to the impact of COVID-19 crisis on the economy.

The government resorts to market borrowing to make up for the mismatch between its revenue and expenditure.

"The estimated gross market borrowing in the financial year 2020-21 will be Rs 12 trillion in place of Rs 7.80 trillion as per BE 2020-21. The above revision in borrowings has been necessitated on account of the COVID-19 pandemic," the Finance Ministry said in a