Foreign currency overseas sovereign bonds: All you should know

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Budget 2019-20 announced that the government would start raising a part of its gross borrowing programme from external markets in foreign currencies. She added that India's sovereign external debt-to-GDP level is among the lowest globally at less than 5 per cent.

The idea, however, has been criticised by many including economists and allies of the ruling BJP alike, as they argued that it could create long-term economic risks by exposing the government's liabilities to currency fluctuations.

Even Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), the economic wing of the RSS, has opposed the idea of issuance of sovereign bonds overseas.

The government intends to mobilise about Rs 70,000 crore through this route as part of diversification of government's resource mobilisation and leaving more funds for the private sector.

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