Restricting the fiscal deficit at targeted levels is extremely important: Ahluwalia

07 Feb 2013 Evaluate

Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia has once again said that restricting the fiscal deficit at targeted levels is extremely important for the economy. The government has already revised upwards the fiscal deficit target for 2012-13 to 5.3 per cent of the GDP from the 5.1 per cent because of lower-than-estimated revenue realization and increasing expenditure.

Ahluwalia was quoted saying that "as we have said ourselves in the plan and I think we should be very clear about the balancing deficit that  doesn't mean zero fiscal deficit. But, maintaining a target deficit that's extremely important for the health of the economy".

The planning commission deputy chief further stated that the country needs to have a planning that is consistent with fiscal responsibility. Ahluwalia also argued for curbing energy and fertilizer subsidy to fund UPA's ambitious food security legislation and bring down the fiscal deficit to the targeted level. He added that maintaining fiscal deficit at the targeted level is important for all the economies across the globe.

Finance minister P Chidambaram too had expressed the need of some tough decisions to bring down the fiscal deficit. While, to control the fiscal deficit and cap the rising subsidy burden, the government in the recent past has partially decontrolled diesel prices besides capping the number of subsidised cooking gas cylinder to nine per year per household.

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