Fiscal Deficit At 50.7% Of FY24 Target Till November

The fiscal deficit till November reached 50.7% of the union government's target for the current financial year, the Controller General of Accounts said on Friday. It narrowed from the 58.9% reported in the comparable year-earlier period.

In actual terms, the deficit in the April–November period stood at Rs 9.07 lakh crore, compared to a target of Rs 17.86 lakh crore for the fiscal, according to the data.

The total receipts stood at Rs 17.4 lakh crore, led by healthy corporate and income taxes in the first eight months of 2023–24. Tax revenue narrowed to 61.6% compared to the previous fiscal, while non-tax revenues swelled to 94.3% from 73.5% of the budget forecast in the same period last year.

The capital expenditure rose to Rs 5.85 lakh crore till November, compared to an allocation of Rs 10 lakh crore for the fiscal, reaching 58.5% of the target. The level of capex during the same period last year was 59.6% of the budgeted target.

The highest monthly capex spend was in September, when Rs 1.16 lakh crore was spent, followed by a significant decrease in October at Rs 56,296 crore.

The government has maintained that the fiscal deficit would stay within its target of 5.9% of the gross domestic product, along the guide path to reach 4.5% by fiscal 2026.