Govt liabilities rise to Rs 116.2 lakh cr in Q4: FinMin report

Total liabilities of the government increased to Rs 1,16,21,781 crore at end-March 2021 from Rs 1,09,26,322 crore at end-December 2020, according to the latest data on public debt.

This represented a quarter-on-quarter increase of 6.36 per cent in Q4 FY21. Public debt accounted for 88.10 per cent of total outstanding liabilities at end-March 2021, the quarterly report on public debt management released on Friday said.

Nearly 29.33 per cent of the outstanding dated securities had a residual maturity of less than 5 years, it said, adding ownership pattern indicates the share of commercial banks at 37.8 per cent and at 25.3 per cent for insurance companies at end-March 2021.

During Q4 of FY21, the Central government issued dated securities worth Rs 3,20,349 crore as against Rs 76,000 crore in Q4 of FY20, while repayments were at Rs 29,145 crore.

The weighted average yield of primary issuances increased to 5.80 per cent in Q4 FY21 from 5.68 per cent in Q3 of FY21. The weighted average maturity of new issuances of dated securities was lower at 13.36 years in Q4 of FY21 as compared to 14.96 years in Q3 of FY21, according to data collated by Public Debt Management Cell (PDMC).

During January-March 2021, the Central government did not raise any amount through the Cash Management Bills.

The Reserve Bank conducted nine special and normal OMOs involving simultaneous purchase and sale of government securities during the quarter.

The net daily average liquidity absorption by the RBI under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) including Marginal Standing Facility and Special Liquidity Facility was at Rs 3,35,651 crore during the quarter.

The yields on Government securities hardened in the secondary market due to increase in supply of G-secs during the quarter.

"Further, hardening of yields was more on the short end of curve due to increase in weekly borrowing and also announcement of resumption of normal liquidity operations by the Reserve Bank," it said.

"However, the yields were supported by decision of MPC meetings held on February 5, 2021, wherein MPC kept the Policy repo rate unchanged at 4 per cent and reiterated to continue with accommodative stance, at least during the current financial year and into the next financial year - to revive growth on a durable basis and mitigate the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on the economy, while ensuring that inflation remains within the target going forward," the report said.