Centre’s fiscal deficit at 25.3% of annual target in the first quarter: CGA

The Centre's fiscal deficit at the end of the first quarter touched 25.3 per cent of the full-year target, government data showed on Monday.

In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit -- the gap between expenditure and revenue -- was Rs 4,51,370 crore as of end-June, according to the data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA).

The deficit stood at 21.2 per cent of the Budget Estimates (BE) in the corresponding period of the financial year 2022-23.

In the Union Budget, the government projected to bring down the fiscal deficit to 5.9 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the current 2023-24 financial year. The deficit was 6.4 per cent of the GDP in 2022-23 against the earlier estimate of 6.71 per cent.

Unveiling the revenue-expenditure data of the Union government for the first three months of 2023-24, CGA said the net tax revenue was Rs 4,33,620 crore or 18.6 per cent of the BE for the current fiscal. The net tax revenue collection was 26.1 per cent at end-June 2022.

The central government's total expenditure in the first quarter stood at Rs 10.5 lakh crore or 23.3 per cent of BE. The expenditure had touched 24 per cent of the BE in the year-ago period.

Of the total expenditure, Rs 7.72 lakh crore was on the revenue account and Rs 2.78 lakh crore was towards the capital account.

Of the total revenue expenditure, Rs 2,43,705 crore was on interest payments and Rs 87,035 crore on major subsidies.

Fiscal deficit is the difference between the total expenditure and revenue of the government. It is an indication of the total borrowings that are needed by the government.