Fiscal deficit stood at Rs 6.20 lakh crore in April-September, accounting for 37.3 per cent of the full-year target, data released by the Controller General of Accounts showed on Monday (October 31), due to more spending on fertiliser, food and fuel subsidies.
The Centre’s fiscal deficit was 35 per cent in the year-ago period, according to the data.
In February this year, while presenting the Budget for 2022-23, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman set the fiscal deficit target at 6.4 per cent of GDP (gross domestic product) for 2022-23 starting April, compared to 6.7 per cent in the previous financial year.
In simple terms, the fiscal deficit is the difference between total expenditure and revenue of the government, and it shows the total borrowing needed by the government. Worth mentioning here is that the the difference between expenditure and revenue—was Rs 6,19,849 crore during the April-September period of 2022-23.
According the latest data, the Centre’s total receipts, including taxes, stood at Rs 12.03 lakh crore or 52.7 per cent of budget estimate (BE) for 2022-23.
Net tax collections during April-September climbed to Rs 10.12 lakh crore, nearly a 10 per cent jump than a year before, aiding the Centre despite growing apprehensions of a decline in receipts from the sale of stakes in state-run companies this year.
Data show total expenditure for the first six months of the current fiscal year was Rs 18.24 lakh crore, compared to Rs 16.26 lakh crore a year earlier.
As per the data, capital expenditure was 45.7 per cent of the full-year budget target in the current fiscal, as against 41.4 per cent in the corresponding period last year, according to the monthly account of the union government up to September.
