India’s Fiscal Deficit Reaches 114% Of Revised Full-Year Target
India’s fiscal deficit reaches 113.7% of the revised target in April-January period.
The Indian government's fiscal deficit reached 113.7 percent of the revised target in the April-January period.
Fiscal deficit, which is the gap between the government's expenditure and revenue stood at Rs 6.77 lakh crore in the first ten months of the financial year 2017-18, as against the revised estimate of Rs 5.95 lakh crore, according to data released by the Controller General of Accounts.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley raised the fiscal deficit target to 3.5 percent of the gross domestic product in the Union Budget 2018-19, from 3.3 percent earlier. The government had already pushed back its 3 percent target by a year from FY18 to FY19.
Net tax revenue stood at Rs 9.71 lakh crore in April-January, as against the estimate of Rs 12.7 lakh crore. Revenue deficit stood at Rs 4.80 lakh crore, which is 76.5 percent of the revised budget estimate.
The government’s finances came under pressure in 2017-18 due to the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax. Volatility in revenue combined with a front-loading of spending led the government to cross its budget target by November itself. Jaitley said that this year’s accounts will account for only 11 months of revenue under GST.