Fiscal deficit for April-Dec at 56.7% of full-year target, shows data

India's fiscal deficit for April-December was Rs 9.14 trillion ($105.58 billion), or 56.7% of the estimate for the financial year, government data showed on Friday.

 

Net tax receipts for the first nine months of the current financial year were at Rs 18.43 trillion, or 71.3% of the annual target, compared with Rs 17.3 trillion for the same period last year, the data showed.

 

India's financial year runs from April through March.

 

Total government expenditure for the nine months was Rs 32.3 trillion or about 67% of the annual goal. Capital expenditure, or spending on building physical infrastructure, was Rs 6.85 trillion, or 61.7% of the annual target. 

 

The spending in the current financial year has been slow due to the national elections, and capital expenditure is likely to fall short of the annual target.

 

Some economists are factoring in a narrower fiscal deficit than the target of 4.9% of gross domestic product (GDP) for 2024-25 on account of lower spending.

 

The revised estimate for the current year and the target for next year will be announced in the annual budget on Saturday.