Fiscal deficit likely to be higher at 5.5%

The government expects the fiscal deficit for the current fiscal to be around 5.5 per cent as against the budget estimate of 5.3 per cent.

According to the Economic Survey 2002-03 tabled in Parliament on Thursday, the government also upped the fiscal deficit estimate for the previous fiscal (2001-02) to 5.9 per cent from an earlier projection of 5.7 per cent.