JOIN USThe government’s fiscal deficit during the April-February period in the current financial year stood at Rs 4.93 lakh crore, or 95 per cent of the revised estimates.
At the end of the 11 months ending February, the fiscal deficit was Rs 4,93,571 crore or 94.6 per cent of the target, the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) said on Saturday.
During the same period in the last fiscal year, the deficit was 68.6 per cent of the budgeted target. Earlier this month, the government revised upwards the fiscal deficit target for the 2011-12 fiscal to 5.9 per cent of GDP, from 4.6 per cent projected earlier.
The rise in fiscal deficit is mainly on account of high subsidy bill, increasing crude oil prices, low tax collection and poor realisation from sale of government equity in state-owned companies.
During April-February, total revenue receipts stood at Rs 5.92 crore and total expenditure was Rs 11.07 crore.
The estimated lower economic growth during the financial year could further deteriorate the fiscal situation as deficit is measured as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product. The economic growth during the current fiscal is expected to be 6.9 per cent as against the original estimate of about 9 per cent.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in his budget for 2012-13 has suggested few measures to reduce the deficit and pegged the deficit to be around 5.1 per cent next fiscal.