Government data has showed that India's fiscal deficit in the eight months to the end of November stood at 10.75 trillion rupees, or 135.1% of the budgeted target for the whole fiscal year. This is despite a reasonable pick-up in tax revenues during the month as economic activity gradually reverts to normalcy amid the pandemic.
The data showed that the gap between the Centre’s revenue and expenditure touched Rs 10.75 trillion between April and November. This is 33 per cent higher than the corresponding period last year and 35.1 per cent higher than the Budget estimates for the current fiscal year.
During the same period last year, fiscal deficit was 114.8 per cent of the Budget target. Fiscal deficit had breached the Budget target in July itself as there was a lockdown in the first quarter. Earlier this month, Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman outlined the government’s resolve to increase spending to support the economy without worrying about the fiscal deficit target.