New Delhi, Feb. 3 -- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s holding of sovereign bonds due to mature next financial year will likely be treated at par with the market by the government rather than swapped for longer-dated debt, a top government official said.

The RBI holds around 1 trillion rupees ($11.5 billion) of bonds maturing next financial year, as per market estimates, and the government was expected to swap these for longer-dated debt before the budget on Saturday, a practise undertaken in earlier years that typically means a smaller gross borrowing target.

According to news agency Reuters, however, it did not do so this time and, as a result, the gross borrowing target for 2025-26 was raised to 14.82 trillion rupees from 14.01 trill...