Fiscal deficit touches 132.4% of full-year target at December-end

01 Feb 2020 Evaluate

The Controller General of Accounts’ data (CGA) has showed that the government's fiscal deficit touched 132.4 per cent of the full-year target at December-end mainly due to slower pace of revenue collections. In actual terms, the fiscal deficit or gap between expenditure and revenue was Rs 9,31,725 crore. The deficit was 112.4 per cent of 2018-19 Budget Estimate (BE) in the corresponding period. Besides, the government aims to restrict the gap at 3.3 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or Rs 7,03,760 crore in the year ending March 2020.

As per the data, the government's revenue receipts were Rs 11.46 lakh crore or 58.4 per cent of the 2019-20 BE. In the same period last fiscal, the collections were 62.8 per cent of the BE. The data further revealed that total expenditure was 75.7 per cent of BE or Rs 21.09 lakh crore. During the corresponding period in 2018-19, the expenditure was 75 per cent of the BE. Of the total spending, the capital expenditure was 75.6 per cent of the BE, higher than 70.6 per cent of the estimates during the same period in 2018-19.

Meanwhile, the Medium Term Fiscal Policy (MTFP) Statement presented with the Budget 2019-20, had pegged the fiscal deficit target for 2019-20 at 3.3 per cent of GDP, which was further expected to follow a gradual path of reduction and attain the targeted level of 3 per cent of GDP in 2020-21, and continue at the same level in 2021-22. In September 2019, the government had decided to lower tax rate for corporates, taking an estimated hit of Rs 1.45 lakh crore on its revenue mobilisation.

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