Ownership Pattern of Public Debt in India: A Study

Abstract

To bridge the inevitable gap between the expenditure and revenue of governments, public debt has been resorted to increasingly by the government all over the world. In India, too, public debt has been reckoned as a device though which governments attempt to garner enough resources for both developmental and non-developmental activities. The present paper looks into the change and pattern in the ownership of public debt in India in recent years. In recent times, there has been a slight decline in the State government securities issued in India. Provident Funds have become dominant and permanent owners of state government securities in Indi, especially in recent times. Commercial banks in India are the main owners of GOI dated securities. Half of the T-Bills have been held by the Commercial Banks in the country. Mutual Funds also have been buying the Treasury Bills on a large scale. Provident Funds (PFs) do not seem to be interested in engaging in Treasury Bills operations in the country.