Government will achieve fiscal deficit target, say finance ministry

05 Oct 2011 Evaluate
Despite the slowdown in economy, the poor revenue collection, this indicates that the government’s financial position is in poorer state compare to the last year, the Ministry of Finance is confident that the government will achieve fiscal deficit target of 4.6% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The ministry also has ruled out any further increase in the borrowing programme. Last week, the government had announced that it will borrow additional Rs 53, 000 crore.

According to the Controller General of Account’s data released on September 30, estimated that the government fiscal deficit in the first five month of current financial year at Rs 2.7 lakh crore, which is more than 66% of the budget estimate for the current fiscal year. on the other hand, during April to August 2010, the government’s fiscal deficit was around 40% of the budget estimate.

The senior finance ministry official said that this was in line with past trends and last year was an exceptional situation given that the government raked in over Rs 1 lakh crore by auctioning spectrum for third generation (3G) mobile services. "If you look at the five year moving average, the fiscal deficit was 60.5%. So, we are not completely off the mark. We have not completely deviated from the past trends," official added.

The government’s financial health is also under pressures because of the huge tax refund. In the April to August 2011, the government refunded around Rs 64,000 crore to the taxpayers, which almost, three time more compare to the past.

Because of this, the net tax revenue is around 21.8% of the budget estimate for the 2011-12. The finance ministry official said "As you see the effect tapering off, we will be back on course at least on the revenue side.”

During the April-September 2011, the direct tax collections grew by around 23.5%, whereas indirect tax increased by 25.5%. The finance ministry is confidence to surpass the direct tax collections target. The official said the government may end up exceeding the direct tax collections by around Rs 10,000 crore, while the effect of revenue lost due to lower duties on fuel would be made up as service tax collections were buoyant.

On the disinvestment target, official said the finance ministry is working on an alternate plan. For the current financial year, the government has set the target of Rs 40,000 crore, however, in the first half of current fiscal year, the government has able to generate around Rs 1,100 crore. Due to uncertainties in capital market, the concern has raised that the government may miss the disinvestment target.

© 2025 The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved. MoneyWorks4Me ® is a registered trademark of The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd.

×