The government has succeeded in meeting its fiscal deficit target for 2024-25, fixed at 4.8 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the revised budget estimate for the year, data released by the Controller General of Accounts on Friday showed. 

According to the CGA data, the Central government collected Rs 30.36 lakh crore as revenue from both tax and non-tax receipts, which works out to 98.3 per cent of the revised Budget Estimates (RE). The Central government’s expenditure during 2024-25 was Rs 46.56 lakh crore or 98.7 per cent of the RE.

The capital expenditure on building physical infrastructure, such as ports, highways, and railways, was Rs 10.52 lakh crore, up from Rs 9.49 lakh crore in the previous year. This reflects the government’s investment in bid ticket projects to spur growth and create more jobs.

The Centre’s fiscal deficit for 2023-24 was 5.63 per cent of the GDP. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has fixed a glide path of lowering the fiscal deficit to 4.4 per cent for 2025-26. A declining fiscal deficit reflects the strengthening of the fundamentals of the economy and paves the way for growth with price stability. It leads to a reduction in borrowing by the government, thus leaving more funds in the banking sector for lending to corporates and consumers, which leads to higher economic growth.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday approved its highest ever dividend of a staggering Rs 2.69 lakh crore to the Narendra Modi government. The dividend payout is a robust 27.4 per cent increase over the corresponding figure of Rs 2.1 lakh crore for the previous year.

The record dividend will help to keep the fiscal deficit in check while enabling the Finance Ministry to continue with its expenditure on big infrastructure projects to spur growth and social welfare schemes to uplift the poor in 2025-26.