Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance on Tuesday brings out a quarterly (July – September 2021) report on debt management on a regular basis.

During Q2 of FY22, the Central Government issued dated securities worth Rs 3,83,863 crore as against Rs 3,18,493 crore in Q1 of FY21, while repayments were at Rs 34,070 crore. The weighted average yield of primary issuances increased to 6.26 per cent in Q2 FY22 from 6.11 per cent in Q1 of FY22.

The weighted average maturity of new issuances of dated securities was lower at 16.51 years in Q2 of FY22 as compared to 16.92 years in Q1 of FY22.

During July – September 2021, the Central Government did not raise any amount through the Cash Management Bills. The Reserve Bank conducted six Open Market Purchase under G SAP 1.0 involving the purchase of Rs 1,20,001 crore and sale of Rs 30,000 crore of government securities during the quarter.

The net daily average liquidity absorption by RBI under Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) including Marginal Standing Facility and Special Liquidity Facility was at Rs 6,99,471 crore during the quarter.

Total liabilities (including under the ‘Public Account’) of the Government, as per provisional data, is Rs 1,25,71,747 crore at end-September 2021 as against Rs 1,20,91,193 crore at end-June 2021.

This indicates a quarter-on-quarter increase of 3.97 per cent in Q2 FY22. Public debt accounted for 91.48 per cent of total outstanding liabilities at the end-September 2021 as against 91.60 at the end-June 2021.

Nearly 30.56 per cent of the outstanding dated securities had a residual maturity of less than 5 years. The ownership pattern indicates the share of commercial banks at 37.82 per cent and that of insurance companies at 24.18 per cent at end-September 2021.

The yields on Government securities hardened in the secondary market due to an increase in the supply of G-secs during the quarter like in the first quarter of FY22.

In the secondary market, trading activities were concentrated in 3-7 year maturity bucket during the quarter mainly because of less trading observed in 10-year benchmark security due to low float.

However, the yields were supported by the decision of MPC to keep the policy repo rate unchanged at 4 per cent, to continue with an accommodative stance, and to conduct Open Market Purchase under G SAP 2.0 during the Q2 FY22.