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The government will meet the fiscal deficit target of 4.8% of GDP for the current financial year, a top Finance Ministry official said today.
"We will meet the fiscal deficit target for the current fiscal year," Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram said here.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram has on many occasions reiterated that a red line has been drawn for the fiscal deficit and it will not be breached. The government wants to narrow the deficit from 4.9% of GDP last year.
The fiscal deficit in the first six months of the current financial year touched Rs 4.12 lakh crore, or 76% of the budget estimate of Rs 5.42 lakh crore, government data showed today.
A year earlier, the difference between government receipts and spending had reached 65.6% of the budget target.
The government on September 18 unveiled austerity measures that will cut non-plan expenditure by 10%. The steps include a freeze on fresh appointments and a bar on executive class air travel.
