The Central government’s fiscal deficit touched 67.8% of the full-year target at the end of January due to higher expenses and lower revenue realisations, according to official data released on Tuesday.
In actual terms, the fiscal deficit or gap between the expenditure and revenue collection during April-January period stood at ₹11.9 lakh crore, as per the data from the Controller General of Accounts (CGA).
The fiscal deficit in the comparable period of 2021-22 was 58.9% of that year’s Revised Estimate (RE) in the Budget.
For the full year 2022-23, the government expects the deficit at ₹17.55 lakh crore, or 6.4% of the GDP.
The CGA data showed that the net tax collection in the first 10 months of this fiscal was ₹16,88,710 crore, or 80.9% of the RE 2022-23.
In the comparable period last financial year, the collection stood at 87.7% of the RE 2021-22.
The Central government’s total expenditure was ₹31.67 lakh crore, or 75.7% of RE 2022-23.
In the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Lok Sabha on February 1, the fiscal deficit target for 2023-24 is 5.9% of the GDP.
For the current year ending March 2023, the deficit has been retained at 6.4% of the GDP. The government borrows from the market to finance its fiscal deficit.
The government intends to bring the fiscal deficit below 4.5% of the GDP by 2025-26.
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