The Finance Ministry and the central bank will begin chalking out the Centre’s borrowing calendar for the first half of the financial year 2018-19 on Saturday.

A formal announcement on the borrowing schedule and related decisions are expected on March 26, said a senior government official.

The schedule will be for the six-month period starting April 1.

For 2018-19, the Union Budget has pegged the Centre’s gross borrowing target at ₹6.06-lakh crore and the net borrowing at ₹4.07-lakh crore.

This is slightly lower than the Revised Estimate for the current fiscal where the gross borrowing was pegged at ₹5.99-lakh crore and the net borrowing at ₹4.79-lakh crore.

However, with the bond markets slightly subdued, the Finance Ministry had earlier this week called a meeting with primary dealers to discuss its borrowing programme for the new fiscal.

Sources said that while the borrowing will continue to be front loaded, the meeting will also discuss measures to improve appetite for government bonds.

Primary dealers are understood to have suggested that the government should issue more shorter-dated securities to help boost demand.

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