ADVERTISEMENT

Rollover Risk In Debt Portfolio Continues To Be Low: Finance Ministry Report

Only 5.2 percent of the outstanding stock of the government will have to be repaid every year, finance ministry says

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

Rollover risk in the government’s debt portfolio continues to be low as only 5.2 percent of the outstanding stock of the government will have to be repaid every year, according to the quarterly debt management report of the finance ministry for January-March.

Government rolls over its debt obligations once they reach maturity.

“…debt maturing in next five years accounted for 26.16 percent of total outstanding debt at end-March 2018,” the report said.

However, the proportion of outstanding debt maturing in less than 10 years was higher at 32.14 percent in January-March, while the share of debt maturing in more than 10 years was almost close to the previous quarter’s level of 28 percent in the 10-20 years bucket, and around 13 percent in the 20 years and above maturity buckets.

BloombergQuint had earlier reported that government may look at issuing more longer-tenor bonds due to lackluster demand for short-term bonds.

The government’s total liabilities increased by about 2 percent quarter on quarter to 76.94 lakh crore in January-March as compared to a 2.4 percent quarter-on-quarter increase in October-December 2017.

“At this level, the ratio of outstanding liabilities of the central government to GDP worked out to 45.9 percent at end-March 2018,” the report said.

The gross borrowing for the government in 2017-18 was Rs 5.9 lakh crore while net borrowing was revised to Rs 4.02 lakh crore in Union Budget for 2018-19.