India’s fiscal deficit during April-October widened to Rs 7.58 lakh crore, or 45.6 percent of annual estimates, government data showed on Wednesday.
In the previous fiscal year (2021-22), the fiscal deficit accounted for 36.3 percent of the FY22 target. In the April-September period, fiscal deficit widened to touch Rs 6.20 lakh crore accounting for 37.3 percent of annual estimates.
Total receipts stood at Rs 13.86 lakh crore and net tax receipts stood at Rs 11.71 lakh crore while total expenditure was Rs 21.44 lakh crore, the data showed.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in budget 2022-23 set the fiscal deficit target at 6.4 percent of GDP for FY2022-23, compared to 6.7 percent in the previous fiscal year.
Revenue receipts stood at Rs 13.50 lakh crore, of which tax revenue was Rs 11.71 lakh crore and non-tax revenue was Rs 1.79 lakh crore.
In May, the government had cut taxes on petrol and diesel to cushion the impact of a spike in global energy prices. Some economists however said windfall gain tax and additional tax revenue owing to GST over and above the budget will likely provide relief to the fiscal situation.
While announcing the federal budget for this fiscal year, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said India will aim to narrow the fiscal gap to 6.4 percent of gross domestic product from 6.7 percent in the last financial year.
On the expenditure side, the Centre spent about Rs 2.39 lakh crore on major subsidies such as food, fertilisers and petroleum. This was 75 percent of the annual budget aim, wider than 62 percent of budget estimate spent in the comparable period last year.
