Govt likely to announce additional borrowing on Feb 16

NEW DELHI: The government is likely to announce additional borrowing for the rest of the current fiscal in its interim budget on February 16, a senior official in the finance ministry said on Tuesday.

"We are waiting for February 16 interim budget. It is likely that the remaining borrowing schedule for the current fiscal may be announced in the interim budget," the official said on condition of anonymity.

There is a move to revise the earlier announced additional borrowing of Rs 50,000 crore for the last quarter of the current fiscal year in order to meet the additional expenditure to boost economic growth.

Replying to a query on the issue, Minister of State for finance P K Bansal said, "The government will have to seek approval of the Parliament for any additional expenditure."

Meeting with the Reserve Bank of India was also held in this regard, he said.

The Parliament session will start on February 12. It may be recalled that the government had come up with a borrowing schedule of Rs 50,000 crore to be raised through bonds from the market till February 20.