India’s fiscal deficit continued to widen in February even as the government remains confident of meeting the revised target for 2018-19.
...Slow pace of tax collection would keep pressure on fiscal deficit. A higher GDP number than the one used in budget will help government inching closer to FY19 fiscal deficit at 3.4 percent of GDP.Devendra Kumar Pant, Chief Economist, India Ratings & Research
Total expenditure for the April-February 2019 period was at Rs 21.88 lakh crore, or 89.1 percent of the full-year target. That’s lower than the 90.1 percent of the budgeted target for the April-February 2018 period.
- Capital expenditure touched 86.6 percent of the 2018-19 target compared with 108.9 percent a year ago.
- Revenue expenditure was at 89.4 percent of the full year target at the end of February compared to 87.5 percent last year.
The government has scrambled over the last few weeks to close divestment deals, raised funds through exchange-traded funds, and pushed tax agencies to step up their efforts to collected taxes to meet its fiscal deficit target.
Speaking to the media while announcing the government borrowing calendar for the first half of the year, finance secretary Subhash Chandra Garg reiterated that the government would meet the fiscal deficit target.
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