Fiscal deficit touches 32.6% of annual target till August

The central government's fiscal deficit touched 32.6 per cent of the annual target in the current financial year till August as against 31.1 per cent recorded a year ago, according to official data released on Friday.

In actual terms, the fiscal deficit -- the difference between expenditure and revenue --- was Rs 5,41,601 crore during the April-August period of this financial year.

Fiscal deficit is an indicator of the government's borrowings from the market.

As per the data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), the government's total receipts, including taxes, stood at Rs 8.48 lakh crore or 37.2 per cent of the Budget Estimates (BE) for 2022-23.

During the year-ago period, the collection was 40.9 per cent of BE 2021-22.

The tax revenue stood at about Rs 7 lakh crore or 36.2 per cent of this year's BE.

The central government's total expenditure was Rs 13.9 lakh crore or 35.2 per cent of the BE 2022-23. It was 36.7 per cent of BE 2021-22.

For 2022-23, the fiscal deficit of the government is estimated to be Rs 16.61 lakh crore or 6.4 per cent of the GDP.

According to the data, capital expenditure was 33.7 per cent of the full-year budget target in the current fiscal compared to 31 per cent in the corresponding period last year, as per the monthly account of the Union government up to August.