Statsguru: Government deviates from fiscal road map

Allocations to the ministry of drinking water and sanitation have declined by 7% in FY19

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has chosen to deviate from the path of fiscal consolidation by budgeting the fiscal deficit target for FY19 at 3.3 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP), from the 3 per cent target under the earlier road map. This marks the second straight deviation from the glided path of fiscal consolidation. As shown in Chart 1, the medium-term fiscal road map now projects the 2020-21 target as 3 per cent. 

The government has also missed its revenue deficit target for FY18. As opposed to the budgeted target of 1.9 per cent of the GDP, the