Fiscal Deficit Hits 82.7% Of Full-Year Target At February-End

The government's fiscal deficit in February-end (April 2021 to February 2022) worked out at 82.7 per cent of the revised annual budget estimates (RE) for 2021-22, according to official data released on Thursday.

In actual terms, the deficit stood at Rs 13,16,595 crore at the end of February this year, as per the data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA).

Fiscal deficit denotes the amount spent by a government over the total income earned. To put it simply, fiscal deficit occurs when government spending exceeds its revenue.

The figure is closely watched by the bond markets.

The government expects the fiscal deficit to be at 6.9 per cent of the GDP (gross domestic product) or Rs 15.91 lakh crore in the current financial year ending March 31, 2022. 

In the last financial year, the gap between the expenditure and revenue was 76 per cent of the RE of 2020-21.

The government's total receipts stood at Rs 18.27 lakh crore or 83.9 per of the RE of Budget 2021-22. It was 88.2 per cent of the RE of 2020-21 in the corresponding period.