According to data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) on Friday (June 30), the Indian government's fiscal deficit at the end of May stood at 11.8 percent of the full-year budget estimates for 2023-24.
The fiscal deficit was 12.3 percent of the 2022-23 BE in the same period of the last year.
A 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. In actual terms, the deficit was Rs 2,10,287 crore at end-May 2023.
In the Union Budget, the government aimed to bring down the fiscal deficit during the current financial year 2023-24 to 5.9 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). The deficit was 6.4 percent of the GDP in 2022-23 against the earlier estimate of 6.71 percent.
The CGA said the net tax revenue was Rs 2.78 lakh crore or 11.9 percent of the BE. Its total expenditure was Rs 6.25 lakh crore or 13.9 percent of the estimates presented in the Union Budget for the current fiscal. As per the Budget, the fiscal deficit in end-March 2024 is estimated at Rs 17.86 lakh crore.
