India’s fiscal deficit improves in Q1FY19, stands at 68.7% of BE

01 Aug 2018 Evaluate

India’s fiscal deficit at the end of first three months of current financial year (FY19) stood at 68.7% of the Budget Estimate (BE) for 2018-19. It improved compared to the year-ago period, when it was 80.8% of the target. The improvement was mainly on account of higher revenue collection. The Controller General of Accounts’ (CGA) data showed that in actual terms, the fiscal deficit or gap between the total expenditure and receipts was Rs 4.29 lakh crore. The fiscal deficit target for FY19 is Rs 6.24 lakh crore.

According to the data, the tax collection at end-June was Rs 2.37 lakh crore or 16% of the BE. The total receipts of the government were Rs 2.78 lakh crore during April-June quarter or 15.3% of the BE. In the similar period of 2017-18, the collection was 13.1% of the BE. Total expenditure during the first three months of the fiscal was Rs 7.07 lakh crore or 29% of the BE. The expenditure was marginally higher as a percentage of BE in the last fiscal. The capital expenditure was Rs 86,988 crore or 29% of the BE.

The fiscal deficit is the gap between total spending and revenue and is a measure of the government’s market borrowing. Besides, the government had budgeted to cut fiscal deficit to 3.3% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the current fiscal, from 3.53% in 2017-18.


© 2026 The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved. MoneyWorks4Me ® is a registered trademark of The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd.

×