India’s Fiscal Deficit Reaches 121.5% Of Full-Year Target In January

India’s fiscal deficit widened in January from the previous month.

The gap between the government’s revenue and expenditure stood at Rs 7.70 lakh crore at the end of January 2019, according to data released by the Controller General of Accounts. That’s 121.5 percent of the budgeted estimate of Rs 6.24 lakh crore for 2018-19. The gap was 112.4 percent in December and 113.7 percent in January 2018.

The government, in the interim budget presented on Feb. 1, revised the fiscal deficit for 2018-19 at 3.4 percent of the GDP from 3.3 percent earlier, and maintained it at the same level for the next financial year.

Other Highlights:

• Total expenditure for the April-January 2019 period rose to Rs 20 lakh crore, or 81.5 percent of the full-year target. That’s lower than the 83 percent of the budget target for the April-January 2018 period.
• Capital expenditure touched 72.7 percent of the 2018-19 target compared with 96.9 percent a year ago.
• Revenue deficit stood at 143.4 percent of the target during April-January 2019 compared with 109.2 percent in the same period last year.
• Revenue receipts stood at 68.3 percent of the target compared with 72.8 percent in April-January 2018.
• Tax revenue was Rs 10.19 lakh crore, or 68.7 percent of the full-year target, against 76.5 percent of the budget target a year ago.
• Non-tax revenue touched 66.1 percent of the target compared with 52.7 percent last year.