Cannot live on unlimited borrowing; fiscal consolidation must: Pranab

NEW DELHI: Warning that a nation cannot sustain on unlimited borrowing, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday said India's fiscal credibility will be seriously challenged if it indulges in extravaganza.

"Our fiscal credibility will otherwise be seriously challenged, if we indulge in financial profligacy. It is not possible," Mukherjee said in Rajya Sabha while replying to debate on General Budget.

The government had injected Rs 1,86,000 crore through a series of stimulus package to perk up the economy hit by the global financial meltdown since 2008, which resulted in high fiscal deficit of 6.8 per cent of GDP.

"We had to borrow over Rs 4,00,000 crore in the current fiscal... Living on unlimited borrowing is not possible," he said, adding that the government has accepted the roadmap for fiscal consolidation given by the 13th Finance Commission.