India’s fiscal deficit rises to Rs 11.91 lakh crore

NEW DELHI: The fiscal deficit for the first 10 months of the current fiscal rose to Rs 11.91 lakh crore, which was 67.8 per cent of the whole year target for 2022-23, according to data released by the Controller General of Accounts on Tuesday.

The fiscal deficit for the corresponding period of last year was 58.9 per cent of the previous fiscal's target.

The government had made an upward revision in the fiscal deficit target for 2022-23 in the Union Budget to Rs 17.55 lakh crore from Rs 16.61 lakh crore.

The total revenue receipts for April-January period of 2022-23 were Rs 19.76 lakh crore, which is 81.3 per cent of the revised 2022-23 budget estimate of Rs 24.32 lakh crore. During the corresponding period of last year, the total receipts were 88.5 per cent of the budget estimate.

The net tax revenue, for the 10-month period ending January 2023, was Rs 16.89 lakh crore, which is 80.9 per cent of the entire fiscal's target. During the year-ago period, the net tax revenue collected was 87.7 per cent of the annual target.

The total expenditure in 2022-23 till January was Rs 31.67 lakh crore, which is 75.7 per cent of the 2022-23 target.

The government raised Rs 31,123 crore through disinvestment between April and January of 2022-23, which is 62 per cent of the current fiscal's revised target of Rs 50,000 crore.

Centre's market borrowings in the April-January period rose to Rs 10.05 lakh crore, which is 84 per cent of the current fiscal's target.