Govt open to borrowing more to boost infrastructure spending: Tarun Bajaj, DEA Secy

Monetisation of the deficit is off the table for now, said Tarun Bajaj, secretary of the department of economic affairs, but the government was open to borrowing more to boost its infrastructure spending, he added.

“At this point of time, monetisation (of the deficit) is not on the table at all. It has not been discussed with the central bank also,” Bajaj said.

Further, rising revenues would help the government's finances through the year, he said. “The revenues are going up and we also mobilised some extra revenues through excise duty. So that is something that is going to help us this year.”


Bajaj was speaking at a webinar hosted by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Ficci), on Thursday.

Emphasising the government’s commitment to infrastructure spending in the roads, railways, power and shipping sectors, Bajaj said he was open to increased borrowing to ensure these departments achieved their targets for this fiscal.

“I have personally spoken to the large infrastructure spending departments of the country and I have assured them that even if I have to borrow a little more I'll do that but you should actually achieve your targets for infrastructure spends in the current year.