Fiscal deficit touches 33.9% of full-year target at end-July: CGA data

The expenditure touched 28.6 per cent of the BE in the year-ago period.

The Centre's fiscal deficit in the first four months of 2023-24 touched 33.9 per cent of the full-year target, government data showed on Monday. In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit -- the gap between expenditure and revenue -- was Rs 6.06 lakh crore as of end-July, according to the data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA).

The deficit stood at 20.5 per cent of the Budget Estimates (BE) in the corresponding period of the financial year 2022-23. In the Union Budget, the government projected to bring down the fiscal deficit to 5.9 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the current 2023-24 financial year. The deficit was 6.4 per cent of the GDP in 2022-23 against the earlier estimate of 6.71 per cent.

Unveiling the revenue-expenditure data of the Union government for the April-July period of 2023-24, CGA said the net tax revenue was Rs 5.83 lakh crore or 25 per cent of the BE for the current fiscal. The net tax revenue collection was 34.4 per cent at end-July 2022.

The central government's total expenditure in the first four months stood at Rs 13.81 lakh crore or 30.7 per cent of BE. The expenditure touched 28.6 per cent of the BE in the year-ago period.

Of the total expenditure, Rs 10.64 lakh crore was on the revenue account and Rs 3.17 lakh crore was towards the capital account. Fiscal deficit is the difference between the total expenditure and revenue of the government. It is an indication of the total borrowings that are needed by the government.