Fiscal deficit overshoots full-year revised estimate in Jan

Fiscal deficit overshoots full-year revised estimate in Jan

Context:

•  India’s fiscal deficit touched Rs 6.77 lakh crore at the end of January, 113.7 per cent of the target for the entire fiscal, on account of higher expenditure.

Fiscal deficit:

• The fiscal deficit, reflection of government borrowings to meet revenue-expenditure gap, was 113.7 per cent in the 10-month period of 2017-18 as compared to 105.7 per cent in the year-ago period.
•  Fiscal deficit had been pegged at Rs 5.33 lakh crore, or 3.5 per cent of the GDP, for the current fiscal ending March 31.
• The figure was revised to Rs 5.95 lakh crore in the Union Budget 2018-19.
• As per data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), the revenue deficit during the April-January period of 2017-18, at Rs 4.80 lakh crore works out to 109.2 percent of the revised budget estimate.
• It was 129.9 per cent in the corresponding period of the last financial year.

Net tax receipts

• Net tax receipts in the first 10 months of 2017-18 fiscal were 9.7 lakh crore.
• Total receipts from revenue and non-debt capital of the government during the period amount to Rs 11.63 lakh crore or 71.7 percent of revised estimate.
• The government’s revenue expenditure during the current fiscal till January came in at Rs 15.75 lakh crore, 81 per cent of the full-year revised estimate.
• The capital expenditure was Rs 2.64 lakh crore, or 96.9 per cent, of the full-year revised estimate.
• The total expenditure was Rs 18.39 lakh crore,83 per cent of the government’s full-year estimate of Rs 22.17 lakh crore.