NEW DELHI: India’s fiscal deficit for the first quarter (April-June) of the current financial year (FY 2019-20) stood at Rs 4.32 lakh crore, which was 61.4 per cent of the Budgeted Estimates (BE). This is slightly better than the deficit during the same period last fiscal, when it was 68.7 per cent of the BE.
Data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) on Wednesday said that while net tax receipts in the quarter stood at Rs 2.51 lakh crore, total expenditure was Rs 7.22 lakh crore. In absolute terms, revenue receipts stood at Rs 2.84 lakh crore by the end of June 2019, which was 14.4 per cent of the BE, and about 1 per cent lower than 15.5 per cent of the BE last year.
The revenue receipts during the entire year have been pegged at Rs 19.77 lakh crore. The government has contained the fiscal deficit by keeping capital expenditure lower, which was 18.8 per cent of the BE in the first three months, compared to 29 per cent in the same period last fiscal, the CGA said.
Total expenditure during the period stood at Rs 7.21 lakh crore or 25.9 per cent of the BE, against 29 per cent of the BE a year ago.The government has pegged its total expenditure for the current fiscal at Rs 27.84 lakh crore. It has set a fiscal deficit target of 3.4 per cent for the year, Rs 7.03 lakh crore.