 "Fiscal deficit breaches full-year target by 21.5% in 10 months")
With indirect tax collections remaining sluggish in the first 10 months of the current financial year, the Centre’s fiscal deficit at the end of January stood at Rs 7.7 trillion, or 21.5 per cent more than the revised target of Rs 6.34 trillion, showed the data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) on Tuesday.
To contain the deficit, the axe has fallen on capital expenditure, which contracted by 35 per cent in January alone. Capital expenditure has been contracting since September 2018.
The government had earlier pegged the deficit at Rs 6.24 trillion for 2018-19 or 3.3 per
