April-Feb fiscal deficit up to 134% of target

Lower tax collection pushed India's budgetary fiscal deficit for April-February 2018-19 period to 134.2 per cent or Rs 8.51 lakh crore of the Rs 6.34-lakh crore annual target, official data showed on Friday.

The Controller General of Accounts (CGA) data showed the fiscal deficit during the corresponding 11 months of the previous fiscal was 120.3 per cent of that year's target.

Till February, the government's total expenditure stood at Rs 21.88 lakh crore (89.1 per cent of the budget estimates) and total receipts were Rs 13.37 lakh crore (73.4 per cent of the budget estimates).

In the same period of 2017-18, it was 79.1 per cent of budgeted estimates received.

Of the total expenditure in this period, Rs 19.15 lakh crore was on revenue account and Rs 2.73 lakh crore on capital account.

Total receipts comprised Rs 10.93 lakh crore of net tax revenue, Rs 1.71 lakh crore of non-tax revenue and Rs 71,662 crore of non-debt capital receipts.

Devendra Kumar Pant, Chief Economist, India Ratings and Research (Fitch Group), said: "FY19 (April-February) fiscal deficit at 134.2 per cent of revised estimate is originating mainly from receipt side. Bharat ETF and PFC buying government's stake in REC has resulted in government over achieving Rs 800-billion disinvestment target."

"Space available in capital expenditure in March 2019 and Rs 50 billon over achievement of disinvestment will provide some buffer to government. However, slow pace of tax collection would keep pressure on fiscal deficit."

--IANS

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