The Centre’s fiscal deficit, the difference between expenditure and income, touched around 83 per cent of the full-year’s revised estimate in the 11-month period. Experts do not see much deviation from the estimate in the full fiscal.

According to data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) on Friday, the fiscal deficit during April-February stood at Rs 14.53 lakh crore, which is 82.8 per cent. During the corresponding period of the last fiscal, it was 82.7 per cent. The deficit for the full year 2022-23, is estimated at Rs 17.55 lakh crore or 6.4 per cent of GDP

Also read: Fiscal Deficit for April-January reached 68% of revised estimate

CGA data showed that net tax collection in the first 11 months of this fiscal was at Rs 17,32,193 crore or 83 per cent of the RE for 2022-23. In the comparable period last fiscal, the collection stood at 83.9 per cent of the RE for 2021-22.

Total expenditure incurred by the government was Rs 34.93 lakh crore (83.4 per cent of RE 2022-23), of which Rs 29,03,363 crore was on the Revenue Account and Rs 5,90,227 crore on the Capital Account. Of the total revenue expenditure, Rs 7,98,957 crore was for interest payments and Rs 4,59,547 crore for major subsidies.

For the current year ending March 2023, the deficit has been retained at 6.4 per cent of GDP. The government borrows from the market to finance its fiscal deficit. The Union Budget pegged the fiscal deficit target for 2023-24 at 5.9 per cent of GDP. The government intends to bring the fiscal deficit below 4.5 per cent of GDP by 2025-26.

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