Delhi's fiscal deficit dips, says Sisodia

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government noted that its fiscal deficit dropped to about one-third of the original estimate for the current fiscal after it carried forward Rs 1,969 crore of the budgetary shortfall to 2018-19. This helped the state government limit the fiscal deficit (the difference between expenditure and revenue) to Rs 887 crore in this fiscal ending March 31 from the budget estimate of Rs 2,856 crore. But for the next year, Finance Minister Manish Sisodia projected that the fiscal deficit will balloon to Rs 2,924 crore. "The debt-GSDP ratio reduced from 6.57 percent in 2014-15 to 5.03 percent in 2017-18, which is the lowest among the states and indicates our better fiscal management," Sisodia said.

According to the 2018-19 Budget presented by Sisodia in the Delhi Assembly, the revenue receipt of the government is expected to reach Rs 47,557 crore in the next financial year, as against Rs 40,247 crore in the revised budget estimate in this fiscal. The government expects to collect Rs 42,000 crore from tax while from non-tax revenue, it has proposed to get Rs 5,557 crore, as against Rs 3,647 crore in the revised budget estimate in the current fiscal.

Laying emphasis on the environment, health and education sectors, the AAP government presented a Rs 53,000 crore Budget for the 2018-19 fiscal. It also made several announcements, including a major thrust on 'green' initiatives for pollution reduction.