Centre’s fiscal deficit at 12.3% of target in May

NEW DELHI: The central government’s fiscal deficit at the end of May stood at 12.3 per cent of the annual budget target for 2022-23, mainly due to higher expenditure, according to official data released on Thursday.

Fiscal deficit is the difference between total expenditure and revenue of the government. It is an indication of the total borrowings that are needed by the government.

The fiscal deficit was at 8.2 per cent of the Budget Estimate (RE) of 2021-22 during the corresponding period. In actual terms, the deficit was at Rs 2,03,921 crore at the end of May, as per the data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA).

The country’s fiscal deficit is projected at 6.4 per cent of the GDP for this fiscal ending March 2023 as against 6.71 per cent for the previous year. As per the data, the total receipts of the government at the end of May was at Rs 3.81 lakh crore or 16.7 per cent of the BE for 2022-23. The collection was about 18 per cent of the BE of 2021-22 in the corresponding period last fiscal.

In May, the tax (net) revenue was at 15.9 pc of the BE of 2022-23. It was 15.1 per cent of the BE 2021-22 in the year-ago period. In actual terms, the net tax revenue stood at Rs 3,07,589 cr during April-May 2022-23. As per the data, the central government’s total expenditure at the end of May stood at Rs 5.85 lakh cr or 14.8 pc of this year’s BE. It was 13.7 pc of the BE in the corresponding period. For 2022-23, the fiscal deficit of the government is estimated to be Rs 16,61,196 crore.