Fiscal deficit touches 32.6% of annual target till August this fiscal: official data

The Central government’s fiscal deficit touched 32.6% of the annual target in the current financial year till August as against 31.1% recorded a year earlier, according to official data released on Friday.

In actual terms, the fiscal deficit — the difference between expenditure and revenue — was ₹5,41,601 crore during the April-August period of this financial year.

Fiscal deficit is an indicator of the government’s borrowings from the market.

As per the data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), the government’s total receipts, including taxes, stood at ₹8.48 lakh crore or 37.2% of the Budget Estimates (BE) for 2022-23.

During the year-ago period, the collection was 40.9% of BE 2021-22.

The tax revenue stood at about ₹7 lakh crore or 36.2% of this year’s BE.

The Central government’s total expenditure was ₹13.9 lakh crore or 35.2% of the BE 2022-23. It was 36.7% of BE 2021-22.

For 2022-23, the fiscal deficit of the government is estimated to be ₹16.61 lakh crore or 6.4% of the GDP.

According to the data, capital expenditure was 33.7% of the full-year budget target in the current fiscal compared to 31% in the corresponding period last year, as per the monthly account of the Union government up to August.