Govt trims bank borrowing target by 24%

The government has slashed its bank borrowing target by 24.36 percent for the fiscal year (FY) 2025–26, setting it at Tk 104,000 crore.

For the current fiscal year 2024–25, the bank borrowing target was initially set at Tk 137,500 crore. It was later revised down to Tk 99,000 crore. 

Even so, the new target for FY26 is 5.05 percent higher than the revised figure for this year.

Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed today proposed a smaller budget for the upcoming fiscal year, narrowing the deficit and prompting a reduction in the planned borrowing from the banking system.

According to budget documents, the total deficit for FY 2025–26 is projected at Tk 221,000 crore. 

Of it, Tk 96,000 crore is expected from foreign sources, while the remaining Tk 125,000 crore will be sourced domestically.

Of the internal financing, Tk 104,000 crore is to be raised from banks and Tk 21,000 crore from non-bank sources, including Tk 12,500 crore from national savings certificates.

During the July and May 21 period of the current fiscal year, the government borrowed around Tk 60,000 crore from the banking sector, according to central bank data.