Centre's Fiscal Deficit For FY23 Narrows To 6.4 Per Cent Of GDP: CGA

Unveiling the revenue-expenditure data of the Union government for 2022-23, the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) said that the fiscal deficit in absolute term was Rs 17,33,131 crore (provisional)

The Budget for 2023-24 had seen the finance ministry make an upward revision in the fiscal deficit target for 2022-23 from Rs 16.61 lakh crore.

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The fiscal deficit for FY23 worked out to be 6.4 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP), as it was projected by the finance ministry in the revised Budget Estimates, according to government data released on Wednesday. Unveiling the revenue-expenditure data of the Union government for 2022-23, the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) said that the fiscal deficit in absolute term was Rs 17,33,131 crore (provisional).

The government borrows from the market to finance its fiscal deficit. The CGA further said the revenue deficit worked out to be 3.9 per cent of GDP, while the effective revenue deficit was 2.8 per cent of the GDP.

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

The Budget for 2023-24 had seen the finance ministry make an upward revision in the fiscal deficit target for 2022-23 from Rs 16.61 lakh crore. However, with the size of India's economy in 2022-23 expected to exceed the Budget estimate, the fiscal deficit as a percentage of GDP was seen unchanged from the initial target of 6.4 per cent.

The Centre was able to comfortably meet the fiscal deficit target in 2022-23 thanks to its net tax revenue exceeding the revised estimate by 0.5 per cent, while non-tax revenue beat expectations by 9.3 per cent. However, disinvestment fared badly, with proceeds from it coming in at Rs 46,035 crore, missing the revised target of Rs 60,000 crore.

When compared to 2021-22, the central government's receipts were 11.2 per cent higher, with net tax revenue up 16.2 per cent. However, non-tax revenue was down 21.6 per cent year-on-year (YoY) as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) transferred a dividend of only Rs 30,307 crore - well below the Centre's estimate of Rs 73,948 crore from the central bank and public sector banks.