NDA govt deviated from the fiscal road map in 2016-17, says CAG report

On the capital side, off-budget financing of railways carried out through IRFC borrowings are outside budgetary control

Despite committing to the path of fiscal consolidation, the government failed to meet its fiscal and revenue deficits targets in 2016-17, noted the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India in its latest report. As seen in Chart 1, as against the revenue, fiscal and effective revenue deficit targets of 2.1, 3.3 and 0.9 per cent of GDP in 2016-17 respectively, the achievement was 2.1, 3.5 and 1 per cent of GDP respectively.

In its report, the CAG has also made some stinging observations on the Centre's compliance with the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act 2003. 

First, as