A balancing act

The govt should be flexible on the fiscal position

In some bad news for the fiscal situation, it has been reported that the excess of government expenditure over revenue in the period between April and October of the current year — in other words, the first half of the financial year 2018-19 — has already exceeded the budgeted fiscal deficit target for the entire financial year. The fiscal deficit target for the ongoing financial year is 3.3 per cent of gross domestic product, or GDP. This target already represents slippage from the previously declared path of fiscal consolidation. Though the government thinks otherwise, there are now very real fears