Fiscal deficit for 1st 10 months of FY23 widens

The central government's fiscal deficit touched 67.8 per cent of the full-year target at the end of January due to higher expenses and lower revenue realisations, according to official data released on Tuesday.

In actual terms, the fiscal deficit or gap between the expenditure and revenue collection during April-January period stood at Rs 11.9 lakh crore, as per the data from the Controller General of Accounts (CGA).

The fiscal deficit in the comparable period of 2021-22 was 58.9 per cent of that year's Revised Estimate (RE) in the Budget.

For the full year 2022-23, the government expects the deficit at Rs 17.55 lakh crore or 6.4 per cent of the GDP.

The CGA data showed that the net tax collection in the first 10 months of this fiscal was Rs 16,88,710 crore or 80.9 per cent of the RE 2022-23.

In the comparable period last financial year, the collection stood at 87.7 per cent of the RE 2021-22.

The central government's total expenditure was Rs 31.67 lakh crore or 75.7 per cent of RE 2022-23.

In the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Lok Sabha on February 1, the fiscal deficit target for 2023-24 is 5.9 per cent the GDP.

For the current year ending March 2023, the deficit has been retained at 6.4 per cent of the GDP. The government borrows from the market to finance its fiscal deficit.

The government intends to bring the fiscal deficit below 4.5 per cent of the GDP by 2025-26.