Fiscal deficit bang on target, India a bright spot: FinMin

The government aims to further bring down the fiscal deficit -- the gap between expenditure and revenue -- to 3.5 per cent.

The government on Tuesday said it has achieved the fiscal deficit target of 3.9 per cent of GDP in 2015-16 and India continues to remain a bright spot in the world economy with solid macroeconomic parameters.

The deficit figure for 2015-16 released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), the Finance Ministry said, indicates that the fiscal parameters are "very robust" and in line with Budget projections.

Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das tweeted: "Fiscal deficit of 3.9 per cent bang on target. Revenue deficit of 2.5 per cent better than 2.9 per cent in 2014-15. Effective budget and fiscal management by government."

Together with GDP growth of 7.9 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2015-16 and 7.6 per cent in the whole of 2015-16, "India continues to remain a bright spot in the world economy with robust macroeconomic and fiscal parameters", the ministry added.

The government aims to further bring down the fiscal deficit -- the gap between expenditure and revenue -- to 3.5 per cent.

The CGA said revenue deficit during the last fiscal was 2.5 per cent of GDP.

The secretary further said the Plan expenditure at Rs 4.71 lakh crore in 2015-16 was higher than Budget estimate of Rs 4.65 lakh crore.

"No expenditure cut to achieve targets," he clarified, adding that tax to GDP ratio works out to 10.74 per cent in the last financial year.

He added that the government's focus is on capital expenditure, which at Rs 2.35 lakh crore in 2015-16 is higher than previous two years by Rs 38,500 crore and Rs 47,500 crore.

Meanwhile, Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa, in a tweet, said: "GDP numbers, sign of times, CGA figures, statement of good financial management. A good monsoon should bring cheer."    

The fiscal deficit at 3.9 per cent of GDP in 2015-16 is a significant improvement over the deficit of 4.1 per cent in 2014-15 and 4.7 per cent in 2013-14.

The gross tax collection at Rs 14.56 lakh crore has shown 17 per cent growth compared with 2014-15.