April-June fiscal deficit hits 61.4% of FY target; touches Rs 4.32 trn mark

Data by the Controller General of Accounts showed that total expenditure for April-June was Rs 7.22 trillion

The Centre’s fiscal deficit for the first quarter of the 2019-20 fiscal year was Rs 4.32 trillion, or 61.4 per cent of the full-year budgeted estimate of Rs 7.04 trillion. This is significantly less than the same period last year, when the fiscal deficit as a percentage of full-year target was 68.7 per cent. 

The lower fiscal deficit for the April-June quarter was achieved due to a slowdown in capital expenditure owing to the Lok Sabha elections, as well as the Narendra Modi government seemingly reversing the usual trend of front loading expenditure, as it looks to meet an increasingly challenging