Fiscal deficit rises to 91.3% of FY18 target in 6 months

In absolute terms, the difference between expenditure and revenue stood at Rs 4.99 lakh cr for the said period

India’s fiscal deficit at the end of the first half of the current finacial year (FY18) touched 91.3 per cent of the Budget Estimate (BE), mainly due to a rise in expenditure.

In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit — the difference between expenditure and revenue — was Rs 4.99 lakh crore during the April-September period of FY18, according to the Controller General of Accounts (CGA). During the same period of last financial year, the deficit was at 83.9 per cent of the target. For FY18, the government aims to bring down the fiscal deficit to 3.2 per cent of gross domestic product. Last fiscal year, it had met the 3.5 per cent target.

The CGA data showed that the government’s revenue receipts were at Rs 6.23 lakh crore in the first six months of FY18, which works out to be 41.1 per cent of the BE of Rs 15.15 lakh crore for the entire year. The receipts were at 41.2 per cent of the target in the year-ago period. 

The government’s total expenditure had been increasing on sequential basis and totalled Rs 11.49 lakh crore at the end of September, or 53.5 per cent of the BE. It was 52 per cent of the BE a year ago.

Capital expenditure in FY18 was only 47.3 per cent of the BE, compared to 54.7 per cent in the same period of last fiscal year.

The revenue expenditure, including interest payment, was 54.6 per cent of the BE in 2017-18. This compares with 51.6 per cent in the corresponding period of 2016-17.