The central government's fiscal deficit for the April to September 2022 period is at 37.3% of its target for the full fiscal.
There is room for optimism in terms of tax revenues, which have remained buoyant. The centre’s gross tax collections have shown healthy growth and will surpass the full-year budgeted target despite custom and excise duty cuts, Sinha said.
The government has also stepped up its tax devolution to states this year at Rs 3,76,106 crore from Rs 1,15,960 crore last year.
“While the scenario is optimistic on the tax collection front, the non-tax revenue could see some shortfall primarily due to lower dividend transfer from the RBI in the current fiscal. Overall, we expect the net revenue receipts to exceed the budget target by Rs 2.2 lakh crore,” Sinha said.
Capex Pace Still Trailing
The fiscal deficit has widened to Rs 6.19 lakh crore from Rs 5.26 lakh crore last year, mostly due to a near 50% year-on-year expansion in capital spending, Nayar said.
While capital expenditure may seem to have shown an uptick to Rs 3.42 lakh crore against Rs 2.29 lakh crore in the previous fiscal, the government is also targeting bigger capex spend this fiscal at Rs 7.5 lakh crore. By those standards, the spending pace still trails targeted levels, Nayar said.
“The spike in September 2022 has boosted the average capital spending of the GoI to around Rs 57,000 crore per month in H1 FY23, which nevertheless trails the required monthly average of Rs 62,500 crore to meet the FY23 BE (budget estimates).”
According to her, disbursals under the interest free capex loan for state governments remain muted at around one-tenth of the amount approved so far, underscoring the importance of faster execution by states in second half of FY23.
(Corrects an earlier version where the name of the economist Rajani Sinha was incorrectly mentioned.)
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
 11_07_24 (1).jpg?rect=0%2C0%2C3500%2C1969&w=75)
Centre’s Tax Revenues Beat Expectations; Fiscal Deficit At 25-Year Low
Jun 30, 2025
NDTV Profit Pulse On June 30 — Top 8 Stories At 8 P.M. Under 8 Minutes
Jun 30, 2025
India's April-May Fiscal Deficit At 0.8% Of FY26 Target After Record RBI Bonanza
Jun 30, 2025
India's April Fiscal Deficit Reaches 11.9% Of FY26 Target; FY25 Projection Met
May 30, 2025
POPULAR