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India’s Public Debt Rises 3.6% To Rs 63.3 Lakh Crore In June

The public debt report by finance ministry said that government’s cash position was stressed.

Indian five hundred rupee banknotes are arranged for a photograph in Mumbai, India (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg  
Indian five hundred rupee banknotes are arranged for a photograph in Mumbai, India (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg  

India's total public debt rose to Rs 63.35 lakh crore till June-end, up 3.6 percent over the previous quarter, according to government data released on Friday.

"This represented a quarter-on-quarter increase of 3.6 percent in Q1FY18 as compared to a decrease of 1.15 per cent in the previous quarter (Q4FY17)," said the Public Debt Management report released by the finance ministry. The total public debt excluding liabilities of the government was Rs 61.13 lakh crore as of March-end.

The report gives an account of the public debt management and cash management operations during the quarter and attempts a rationale for major activities. It also tries to provide information on various aspects of debt management.

Internal debt constituted 93 percent of public debt as of June 2017 while marketable securities accounted for 83.2 percent. The report also said that liquidity conditions in the economy remained comfortable and continue to be in surplus mode during the quarter post the demonetisation.

It further said the cash position of the government during the first quarter was somewhat stressed and it took recourse to Ways and Means Advances (WMA) from the Reserve Bank of India to tide over this temporary phase.

This was due to front-loading of expenditure by the ministries and heavy repayment of government securities falling during the quarter, combined with low cash inflows generally seen during the first half of the year.

"Overdraft was also availed briefly during the quarter," it said.

Cash Management Bills (CMBs) of varying durations amounting to Rs 1.3 lakh crore were issued during the quarter to augment the cash position of the government with CMBs of Rs 40,000 crore redeemed during the quarter itself.

The government's cash account is maintained with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The cash-flow mismatches of the government are largely managed through issuance of treasury bills, access to the WMA facility from the RBI and issuance of CMBs when in deficit and through auctions of its cash balance in market (through RBI) and buybacks of securities from market, when in surplus.