India's Apr-Dec fiscal deficit at over 145% of budgeted target

India's budgetary fiscal deficit for the April-December 2020-21 period stood at Rs 11.58 lakh crore, or 145.5 per cent of the budget estimates (BE).
The 2020-21 deficit -- the difference between revenue and expenditure -- had been pegged at Rs 7.96 lakh crore, as compared to the revised deficit of Rs 7.66 lakh crore for the last fiscal.

As per the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) data released on Friday, the fiscal deficit during the corresponding months of the previous fiscal was 132.4 per cent of that year's target.

The Central government's total expenditure stood at Rs 22.80 lakh crore (74.9 per cent of BE) while total receipts were Rs 11.21 lakh crore (49.9 per cent of BE).

"We expect the GoI's fiscal deficit to widen to Rs 14.5 trillion or 7.5 per cent of GDP in FY2021," said ICRA's Principal Economist Aditi Nayar.

"We do not foresee an upward revision in the GoI's planned market borrowings for the remainder of Q4 FY2021, with any balance funding requirements to be met through green-shoe options or treasury bills." - IANS