North Block has turned savvy in dealing with the govt's borrowing programme

Backloading the government's borrowing programme suggests the finance ministry's confidence in better revenue numbers

The Union finance ministry has of late become a little savvy as far as dealing with the government’s borrowing programme is concerned. This is a refreshing change from the ham-handed way it dealt with such issues even three months ago. 

In the last week of December, the finance ministry announced that its borrowing programme would have to be raised by Rs 500 billion for 2017-18. With the next Budget still about two months away, it was unusual for the finance ministry to have apparently given up on its efforts to shore up the government’s finances. That this act of virtually