Govt may meet fiscal numbers this year; deficit likely to be 3.2% of GDP: SBI Research

Mumbai: Taking a contrary stance from peers, the economists at SBI Research see the government meeting the fiscal targets this year and the same is likely to be pegged at Rs 6.72 trillion or 3.2 percent of GDP next fiscal year, assuming moderate nominal GDP growth of 11.7 percent, says a report. “For FY20, the fiscal deficit is likely to be Rs 6.72 trillion or 3.2 percent of GDP, assuming a modest 11.7 percent of nominal GDP growth,” SBI Research said in a report Wednesday, adding for FY19 the fiscal gap will be met at the budgeted 3.3 percent. The government’s gross market borrowing in FY20 will be Rs 6.50 trillion while net market borrowing to be at Rs 4.13 trillion, less than FY19 estimate of Rs 4.20 trillion, the report said. To keep the redemptions in check, the report estimates switching of securities worth around Rs 30,000-35,000 crore, which would bring in gross borrowing near the FY19 budgeted target of Rs 6.05 trillion. “We are expecting minimum buybacks in FY20 as the government may be carrying forward a minimal cash balance into FY20,” it said. [caption id=“attachment_4207381” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The government has also dipped into small savings scheme to meet a part of its expenditure in FY19. As against the budgeted amount of Rs 75,000 crore (revised later to Rs 1 trillion), borrowings through small savings have reached Rs 45,396 crore by November 2018, it said. It said a large funding through the National Small Savings Fund (NSSF) is possible owing to the interest gap between bank deposits and the small saving rates. The gap between the small saving interest rate (average of PPF and Sukanya Samridhi accounts rates) and average term deposit of year maturity being offered by banks still remains around 98 basis points. “However, this may make it difficult for banks to reduce deposit rates,” it said. In the past few months, with deposit growth significantly lagging credit growth, banks have been increasing deposit rates to avoid deposit flight. For the fortnight to January 4, 2019, on an annualised basis, the aggregate deposits grew 9.9 percent or Rs 10.85 trillion and advances rose 14.5 percent or Rs 11.85 trillion. “Such a widening gap between deposit and credit growth requires a build-up of liquidity, which has to be met through the banking channel since in the event of no buyback of securities and RBI not doing aggressive OMOs, the banks would have to manage liquidity by focusing on deposit growth,” it said, adding next year may see a hardening of interest rates. For FY20, the aggregate borrowings by the states is likely to be around Rs 5.5 trillion and net borrowing around Rs 4.1 trillion.       To keep watching India’s No. 1 English Business News Channel – CNBC-TV18, call your Cable or DTH Operator and ask for the Colors Family Pack (inclusive of 24 channels), available for Rs. 35/- per month, or subscribe to the channel for Rs. 4/- per day. To keep watching the Leader in Global Market & Business News – CNBC-TV18 Prime HD, call your Cable or DTH Operator and ask for the Colors Family HD Pack (inclusive of 25 channels), available for Rs. 50/- per month, or subscribe to the channel for Rs. 1/- per day.