Fiscal deficit dips 20.5% of annual target in April-July

New Delhi: The central government's fiscal deficit touched 20.5 per cent of the annual target in the July 2022 quarter against 21.3 per cent a year ago, reflecting improvement in public finance, as per official data released on Wednesday.

In actual terms, the fiscal deficit - the difference between expenditure and revenue - was Rs 3,40,831 crore during the April-July period this financial year.

A fiscal deficit is a reflection of government borrowings from the market.

As per the data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), the government's receipts, including taxes, stood at Rs 7.85 lakh crore or 34.4 per cent of the Budget Estimates (BE) for 2022-23. During the year-ago period, it was nearly the same at 34.6 per cent.

The tax revenue stood at Rs 6.66 lakh crore or 34.4 per cent of this year's BE. Last year too, the government had managed to mop 34.2 per cent of its annual estimate during April-July.

The data further revealed that the central government's total expenditure was Rs 11.26 lakh crore or 28.6 per cent of the BE 2022-23, almost same as in the year-ago period.

Capital expenditure was 27.8 per cent of the full-year budget target compared to 23.2 per cent in the corresponding period last year, as per the monthly account of the Union government up to July 2022, released by the CGA.

For 2022-23, the fiscal deficit of the government is estimated to be Rs 16.61 lakh crore or 6.4 per cent of the GDP.

Meanwhile, Indian economy is on course for a 7-plus per cent growth rate in the current fiscal year, finance secretary T V Somanathan said on Wednesday.

Commenting on the first quarter GDP growth rate of 13.5 per cent, he said the economy is 4 per cent above pre-Covid levels.

Allaying concerns of high imports denting the fiscal architecture, he said the government was on course to meet fiscal deficit target of 6.4 per cent of GDP in current fiscal ending March 31, 2023.

Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth said GST collection for August is likely to remain in the range of Rs 1.42-1.43 lakh crore, in signs of buoyancy in economy. Also, gross fixed capital formation grows 34.7 per cent during April-June, highest in 10 years, he said.