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India Is Being Thrifty in Good News for Budget Gap Goal: Chart

India is spending less on food, fuel and fertiliser subsidies as the $2.6 trillion economy seeks to narrow its budget gap.

India Is Being Thrifty in Good News for Budget Gap Goal: Chart
A customer holds Indian rupee banknotes. (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)
India Is Being Thrifty in Good News for Budget Gap Goal: Chart

(Bloomberg) -- India is spending less on food, fuel and fertilizer subsidies as the $2.6 trillion economy seeks to narrow its budget gap to the lowest in 11 years. In the first three months of the financial year that began April 1, it spent 1.17 trillion rupees ($17 billion) on major subsidies, lower than the 1.35 trillion rupees doled out a year ago, data show. The fiscal deficit goal of 3.3 percent of gross domestic product still faces risks from high crude oil prices and pressure on the government to spend more before federal polls early next year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Vrishti Beniwal in New Delhi at vbeniwal1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nasreen Seria at nseria@bloomberg.net, Karthikeyan Sundaram, Karl Lester M. Yap

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