Centre's Fiscal Deficit Widens To Rs 11.91 Lakh Crore In April-January, Touches 68% Of Full-Year Target

At Rs 11.91 lakh crore, the fiscal deficit for April 2022-January 2023 accounts for 67.8 per cent of the full-year target for 2022-23

The central government's fiscal deficit for the first 10 months of 2022-23 widened to Rs 11.91 lakh crore, according to a data released on Tuesday by the Controller General of Accounts.

According to the government data, at Rs 11.91 lakh crore, the fiscal deficit for April 2022-January 2023 accounts for 67.8 per cent of the full-year target for 2022-23. The fiscal deficit in the first 10 months of the last financial year was 58.9 per cent of that year's target.

The central government made an upward revision in its fiscal deficit target for 2022-23 in the 2023 Budget in February to Rs 17.55 lakh crore from Rs 16.61 lakh crore. However, with the size of India's economy this year set to exceed the Budget Estimate, the fiscal deficit as a percentage of GDP is seen unchanged from the initial target of 6.4 per cent.

The net tax revenue, for the 10-month period ending January 2023, stood at Rs 16.89 lakh crore, which is 80.9 percent of the entire fiscal year's target. In the same period of FY22, the net tax revenue collected was 87.7 percent of the annual target.

The total revenue receipts for the April-January period stood at Rs 19.20 lakh crore, which is 81.7 percent of the revised FY23 Budget Estimate of Rs 23.48 lakh crore. In the comparable year-ago period, total receipts had hit 88.5 per cent of the Budget Estimate.

So far, the total expenditure in this fiscal till January came in at Rs 31.67 lakh crore, which amounts to 75.7 per cent of the FY23 target. In the corresponding period of FY22, total expenditure was 74.5 per cent of the full-year target.

India’s fiscal deficit by the end of December touched 59.8 per cent of the full year Budget Estimates. As per the data from the Controller General of Accounts, under the finance ministry, the fiscal deficit was Rs 9.92 lakh crore during the April-December period of 2022-23.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during her speech in Parliament on Budget session said the Budget 2023-24 balances the requirement for India's development imperatives within the limits of fiscal prudence.