oppn parties External Commercial Borrowings: Good Route If Used Wisely

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October 17, 2026

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  • Allahabad HC said that the UP Police is acting as law unto themselves as they detained a person unlawfully even before his arrest
  • Kolkata witnesses traffic snarls on the first day of the Durga Puja festival as revellers start pnadal-hopping
  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
  • Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora of AISA, student leaders and supporters ahead of a rally in Connaught Place demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest followed the detention and jailing of two CJP leaders earlier in the week over demonstrations at Jantar Mantar
  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
  • Indian shuttler Jagsher Singh Khangurra secured a bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo
  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
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External Commercial Borrowings: Good Route If Used Wisely

By Sunil Garodia

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

The government, as announced in the budget, has decided to float sovereign bonds and borrow in the international markets. This is both good and bad. It is good because it will free up resources for private players, allow the government to borrow at a much cheaper rate, will bring stability to the Indian rupee and will make the government more responsible in its fiscal policies as overseas bond markets will look more closely at figures such as fiscal deficit. It is bad because by borrowing in external markets, India will expose itself to speculators who can short sell the bonds to create panic. But most experts agree that given India’s strong macroeconomic fundamentals, if external borrowing is done in moderation, the chances of speculation mischief are negligible.

The Indian government is the biggest borrower in the domestic financial market. Since government paper is backed by the sovereign and chances of default are non-existent, lenders prefer to invest in it even though the rates of interest are low. Banks have to put a major part of their funds in government papers as the RBI mandates it. This obviously means that banks and other financial institutions have lower resources for private players. Once the government starts borrowing a part of its requirement in the overseas market, it will free up some resources with banks which they can use to service private borrowers. If the government borrows 10-11 percent of its requirements overseas, as is being indicated, it means around Rs 71000 crore will be freed.

India has one of the lowest GDP to external commercial borrowing (ECB) ratio in the world among the fast developing nations. Lately, the government has further reduced external borrowings. India’s external borrowings dipped by 9% in February this year and over 20% in April compared to corresponding months last year. Since India uses the ECB route for less 3% of its total borrowing, there is immense scope to tap this route. Funds acquired through ECB will come in foreign currency, will be a lot cheaper and there is no liquidity problem in the overseas financial markets. But care must be taken to maintain a healthy ECB to GDP ratio which must not shoot beyond 20%. We have the example of some Latin American countries that were brought to their knees after their ECB shot up to 50% of their gross borrowings. But India has strong fundamentals and is likely to be very prudent in its ECB policies, negating such risks.

pic courtesy:ipleaders blog

 

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