Finance Ministry to make substantial cuts in its plan expenditure for FY 14

04 Feb 2013 Evaluate

In a move to contain the fiscal deficit at 4.8 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP), the finance ministry is expected to make a substantial cut in its plan expenditure for 2013-14 fiscal year. The ministry has set its fiscal deficit target to 4.8% of the GDP for the next fiscal year.

The government is mulling to cut the plan expenditure for the next year in order to restrict the fiscal deficit as per the roadmap under which it has to be lowered to 3 per cent by 2016-17. As per the finance ministry, it will scrutinise the utilisation of funds allotted in the current fiscal year before releasing any amount for next year in the budget, which is scheduled to be announced on February 28. According to data of Controller General of Accounts (CGA), till December, the plan expenditure has been 56.8 per cent of the budget estimates or about Rs. 2.96 crore till December and the non-plan expenditure was 72 per cent of budget estimated at Rs. 6.95 lakh crore.

Further, to contain the fiscal deficit at 5.3 per cent for this fiscal, the Finance Ministry has already asked all the government departments to cap spending in January-March quarter at 33 per cent of the total funds allocated for the full financial year as the government's fiscal deficit touched 78.8 per cent of the budget estimates (BE) in the April-December 2012. While, the government had hiked the fiscal deficit target for the current fiscal year to 5.3 per cent of GDP from 5.1 per cent estimated in Budget.

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