Centre Cuts Borrowing Estimate for Next Financial Year to Rs 11.54 Lakh Crore
It hopes to have an improvement in tax collection
�New Delhi:�The government on Saturday said that the Centre cut its borrowings estimate for next financial year to Rs 11.54 lakh crore on net basis as it hoped to have an improvement in tax collection. The government is expected to borrow by issuing dated securities to meet its fiscal deficit target. However, gross market borrowings have now been revised upward to Rs 14.82 lakh crore from Rs 14.01 lakh crore estimated for the current financial year.
“The Centre will borrow Rs 14.82 lakh crore from markets in 2025-26 in gross terms to finance its fiscal deficit of 4.4 percent, while the gross borrowing for 2024-25 is seen at Rs 14.01 lakh crore in the last July Budget. The borrowing limit is significantly higher than the estimate for the current financial year,” FM Nirmala Sitharaman said, while presenting the Budget for FY26.
“Coming to 2025-26, the total receipts other than borrowings and the total expenditure are estimated at Rs 34.96 lakh crore and Rs 50.65 lakh crore respectively. The net tax receipts are estimated at Rs 28.37 lakh crore,” Sitharaman said in her Budget speech.
Fiscal deficit is estimated to be 4.4 percent of GDP for FY26 as compared to 4.8 per cent of the GDP estimated for the current financial year. In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit is pegged at Rs 15,68,936 crore for the financial year 2025-26. “To finance the fiscal deficit, the net market borrowings from dated securities are estimated at Rs 11.54 lakh crore. The balance financing is expected to come from small savings and other sources. The gross market borrowings are estimated at Rs 14.82 lakh crore,” she said.
