India's April-July fiscal deficit at 103.1pc of budgetary target

India's budgetary fiscal deficit for the April-July 2020-21 period stood at Rs 8.21 lakh crore, or 103.1 per cent of the budget estimates (BE).

The 2020-21 deficit -- the difference between revenue and expenditure -- has been pegged at Rs 7.96 lakh crore, as compared to the revised deficit of Rs 7.66 lakh crore for the last fiscal.

The Central government's total expenditure stood at Rs 10.5 lakh crore (34.7 per cent of BE) while total receipts were Rs 2.32 lakh crore (10.4 per cent of BE).

As per the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) data released on Monday, the fiscal deficit during the corresponding months of the previous fiscal was 77.8 per cent of that year's target.

According to ICRA's Principal Economist Aditi Nayar: "With the localised lockdowns arresting the recovery in many sectors, the pace of the contraction in the GoI's gross tax revenues recorded only a subdued improvement to 20 per cent in July 2020 from 23 per cent in June 2020, which was led by excise duty, income tax and customs duty."

"In particular, excise collections expanded by a sharp 82 per cent in July 2020, benefitting from the higher rates of cess amid mixed improvement in fuel usage. The improvement in customs duty may be linked to the revival in gold imports."