Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee with Nabard chairman Prakash Bakshi in New Delhi on Tuesday. Picture by Prem Singh

New Delhi, July 12: The government will not exceed its market borrowing target for the current fiscal to ensure that the private sector has access to enough capital, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said today.

“I will plan my borrowing in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India to ensure that the private sector is not elbowed out,” Mukherjee said after the board meeting of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard).

The government plans to borrow Rs 4.17 lakh crore from the market. Of this, almost 60 per cent or Rs 2.5 lakh crore will be in the April-September period. Last year, it had borrowed Rs 4.47 lakh crore.

On the austerity measures announced yesterday, Mukherjee said they were aimed at curbing wasteful expenditure and containing fiscal deficit.

The finance ministry has launched a second phase of austerity drive to reduce public expenditure. It has asked ministries and departments to restrict foreign travel and refrain from holding meetings in five-star hotels. It has also advised the ministries not to buy new vehicles or create new government posts.

The finance minister also expressed confidence that the government would be able to meet the revenue collection targets for the current fiscal.

“Instead of deferring the refund for next 2-3 months, we made it upfront. But that does not alter the net kitty which will be available to me by the end of the year,” he said.

The government is expecting a gross tax revenue of Rs 9.32 lakh crore this fiscal. According to the latest data available, the gross collection during the April-June quarter rose 23.91 per cent to Rs 1,04,136 crore.

The finance minister said he was not worried about revenue collections because there was revenue buoyancy and it was moving on expected lines.