No new borrowings to fund extra expenditure: Nirmala Sitharaman

New Delhi, December 21

The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed the Supplementary Demand for Grants — first batch for 2022-23 — with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman assuring the House that the gross additional expenditure worth around Rs 4.36 lakh crore will not entail any change in the government’s borrowing plan. It will entail net cash outgo of over Rs 3.25 lakh crore as some of the amount will be recovered by savings of Ministries and Departments or enhanced receipts aggregating over Rs 1.10 lakh crore. The supplementary demand for grants is for food security, fertiliser requirements and providing support to the Indian economy, said Sitharaman while replying to the debate.

No change in plans

In September itself, government made it clear that we aren’t changing our borrowing schedule and borrowing plans. Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Minister

Replying to the discussion, Sitharaman refuted arguments put forward by P Chidambaram, Raghav Chaddha, Manoj Jha, John Brittas and others that the economy was in trouble.