Govt spending in FY17 likely to be revised down: Credit Suisse

The government has likely taken the move in order to meet its fiscal deficit target of 3.5%

Estimates of gross domestic product (GDP) released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed government spending grew a staggering 39.1 per cent in the fourth quarter (Q4) of FY17. 

This estimate of spending (Centre and states) might not be based on full financial year data, say analysts at Credit Suisse in a new report. Rather, it is possibly based on data for only10 months.

The report estimates combined spending by Centre and states was actually lower by Rs 2.6 lakh crore or 1.7 per cent of GDP. Of this, roughly Rs 2.2 lakh crore was due to lower spending by states, with