NEW DELHI: The Centre’s fiscal deficit in the first six months of the current financial year has reached 29.4% of the budgeted target of Rs 16.13 lakh crore. Last year during the same period, the fiscal deficit had touched 39.3% of the budgeted target.
The fiscal deficit, which is the difference between the government’s total receipt and total expenditure, during April-September 2024 was Rs 4.75 lakh crore compared to Rs 7 lakh crore during the same period last year.
The net tax revenues during the period rose of the government by 9% year-on-year, while non-tax revenues grew by 51% boosted by the RBI dividend. Revenue expenditure during the first six months grew by a modest 4%, while capital expenditure contracted by 15%.
The government has received 16.37 lakh crore (51.0% of budgeted amount for 2024-25) up to September 2024. Total expenditure incurred by the government is Rs 21.11 lakh crore (43.8% of budgeted target), out of which Rs 16.96 lak crore is on revenue expenditure and Rs 4.14 lakh crore is due to capital expenditure (against the full year target of Rs 11.11 lakh crore).
According to ICRA, to meet the FY2025 budget target for cxapex, the government needs to incur a capex of Rs 1.16 lakh crore a month during second half of the year, which entails a considerable expansion of 52% relative to previous year.
“This appears rather challenging, at this juncture and we expect the capex target of Rs. 11.1 lakh crore for FY25 to be missed by a margin of at least Rs 50,000 crore,” said the rating agency.
Out of the total revenue expenditure, Rs 5.15 lakh crore has gone towards interest payments and Rs 2.14 lakh crore on account of major subsidies.
Meanwhile, the gross tax collection during the first six months of the current financial year has grown at 11.8% to Rs 18.1 lakh crore compared to Rs 16.2 lakh crore during the same period previous year. The growth was mainly driven by sharp increase in personal income tax collections, which rose 25% to Rs 5.64 lakh crore compared to Rs 4.51 lakh crore. The corporate tax collections, however, have remained sluggish with only 2.2% growth to Rs 4.61 lakh crore. Central GST collections have risen by 11% to Rs 4.41 lakh crore.
Customs duty collection during the April-September period has grown by 6.4% to Rs 11.29 lakh crore.