data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7 — Workers unload a statue of the Indian national emblem Ashoka Stambha outside the the North Block of the Central Secretariat buildings in New Delhi, India. (Photographer: Anindito Mukherjee/Bloomberg)

India’s Fiscal Deficit In October At 102.4% Of 2019-20 Target

29 Nov 2019, 11:48 by Aditi Verma

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India’s fiscal deficit widened in October over the previous month.

The gap between the government’s revenue and expenditure rose to Rs 7.20 lakh crore as of October, according to data released by the Controller General of Accounts.

That’s 102.4 percent of the budgeted estimate of Rs 7.04 lakh crore for 2019-20. In September, the fiscal deficit stood at 92.6 percent of the target. Still, the fiscal deficit level is lower than that of October last year when it had reached 103.9 percent of the FY19 target.

Capital expenditure stood at Rs 2.01 lakh crore in October 2019, 59.5 percent of an estimate of Rs 3.38 lakh crore.

Other Highlights

Revenue receipt stood at 46.2 percent of the budgeted target of Rs 19.6 lakh crore.
Tax revenue stood at 41.4 percent of the budgeted target of Rs 16.4 lakh crore.
Non-tax revenue stood at 71.6 percent of budgeted target of Rs 3.13 lakh crore.

The government is likely to run a fiscal deficit higher than 3.3 percent of gross domestic product announced in Union Budget 2019-20 because of the recent cut in corporate tax rates. “Revenue foregone for the reduction in corporate tax rate is Rs 1.45 lakh crore per annum,” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said.

This comes as Sitharaman sought the parliament’s approval to spend Rs 21,246 crore for the year ending March 2020, over and above the budgeted expenditure for the period.