Govt's fiscal deficit at 31.1% of Budget Estimate till Aug, an 18-year low

This was despite a YoY spike in expenditure that month, after falling in the previous month

The Centre's fiscal deficit as a proportion of the Budget Estimates fell to an 18-year low of 31.1 per cent in the first five months of the current financial year.

This was despite a year-on-year spike in expenditure in August, after falling in the previous month.

In absolute terms as well, the gap between the Centre's expenditure and receipts narrowed to Rs 4.7 trillion during April-August, 2021 from Rs 8.7 trillion in the corresponding period of the previous year. It was, in fact, lower than Rs 5.5 trillion in the corresponding pre-Covid period of 2019-20.

The decline in the deficit