India on Friday said it would borrow 60 percent of its full 2011/12 year borrowing target of 4.17 trillion rupees ($93 billion) by end-September, slightly below market expectations, sending bond yields down. The government will issue 2.5 trillion rupees ($56 billion) of debt between April 1 and September 30, the first half of its next fiscal year, Economic Affairs Secretary R. Gopalan said.
The government normally borrows the majority of its full-year target during the first half of the fiscal year, so as not to crowd out debt issuance by industries which typically raise money for investment and expansion during the second half. The bulk of the government's first-half borrowing will be in the 10-year and longer segment and the weekly debt issuances would range between 100 billion-150 billion rupees.
The government will also raise 880 billion rupees via treasury bills in the first quarter of the next fiscal year. The borrowing will help plug India's targeted fiscal deficit of 4.6 percent of GDP in the next fiscal year, which is narrower than the current year's 5.1 percent.