Centre's fiscal deficit at 63% of full year target at Jan-end: CGA data

The Centre's fiscal deficit at the end of January stood at Rs 9.8 trillion, or 63 per cent of the annual budget target for 2025-26, compared to 74.5 per cent in the year-ago period, government data released on Friday showed.

 

The Centre estimates the fiscal deficit (the gap between expenditure and revenue) during 2025-26 at 4.4 per cent of GDP, or Rs 15.58 trillion.

 

According to monthly accounts released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), the Centre received Rs 27.08 trillion (79.5 per cent of corresponding RE 2025-26 of total receipts) up to January 2026.

 

It comprised Rs 20.94 trillion of tax revenue (net to Centre), Rs 5.57 trillion of non-tax revenue and Rs 57,129 crore of non-debt capital receipts.

 

The CGA data showed that Rs 11.39 trillion has been transferred to state governments as devolution of share of taxes by Government of India, which is Rs 65,588 crore higher than the previous year.

 

Further, total expenditure incurred by Government of India is Rs 36.9 trillion (74.3 per cent of corresponding Revised Estimate 2025-26), out of which Rs 28.47 trillion was on revenue account and Rs 8.42 trillion on capital account.

 

Out of the total revenue expenditure, Rs 9.88 trillion was on account of interest payments and Rs 3.54 trillion on account of major subsidies.