Fiscal Deficit Touches 52% of Budget Estimate

New Delhi: The government’s fiscal deficit touched 52 per cent of the budget estimate (BE) for the full year in the first two months of 2019-20.

The fiscal deficit or gap between expenditure and revenue, was Rs 3,66,157 crore, as per data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA).

The fiscal deficit was 55.3 per cent of 2018-19 budget estimate in the year-ago period. In the Interim Budget passed in February, the government had estimated the fiscal deficit at Rs 7.03 lakh crore for 2019-20.

The government aims to restrict the fiscal deficit at 3.4 per cent of the GDP during the current fiscal, same as the last financial year.

Revenue receipts of the government during April-May, 2019-20 was 7.3 per cent of the budget estimate. In the year-ago period also, the revenue receipts were at a similar level however, the capital expenditure was only 14.2 per cent of the BE as compared to 21.3 per cent in the year-ago period. (IANS)

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