India's fiscal deficit crosses full-year budgeted target in four months

India's federal fiscal deficit in the four months to end July stood at Rs 8.21 trillion ($111.7 billion), or 103.1% of the budgeted target for the current fiscal year, government data showed on Monday.

Net tax receipts were Rs 2.03 trillion, while total expenditure was Rs 10.5 trillion, the data showed, indicating the government had stepped up its spending to combat the impact of the coronavirus.

The deficit is predicted to cross 7.5% of GDP in the 2020/21 fiscal year that began in April, private economists said, from initial government estimates of 3.5%, mainly due to a sharp economic contraction triggered by