The Union Government's fiscal deficit has reached 9.6% of the fiscal 2027 target and came in at Rs 1.62 lakh crore for month of May, according to data released by the Controller General of Accounts.
In the year-ago period, fiscal deficit had reached only 0.8% of the annual target. Notably, the deficit has narrowed month-on-month as it had come in at Rs 3.62 lakh crore, meeting 21.4% of the budgeted target in April for fiscal 2027.
The Iran war has severely impacted the crude prices in the last few months, in turn widening the gap between expenditure and revenue for the nation. As the crude prices surges, India continued to cut SAED of windfall taxes.
During May, Net tax mop-up reached nearly Rs 3.48 lakh crore, or 12% of the yearly target. In the year-ago period net tax collections stood 12.4% of the FY27 target.
Capital expenditure continued to surge, reaching Rs 2.51 lakh crore or 20.5% of the FY27 target. In the year-ago period, capex had reached 26.2% of the annual target.
The Centre's revenue deficit in the April-May period narrowed to Rs 68,985 crore from Rs 1.82 lakh crore in April. Revenue expenditure includes regular costs like salaries, pensions, interest payments, and subsidies.
The total expenditure during the first two months of this fiscal stood at Rs 8.81lakh crore, which is 16.5% of the FY27 estimated target, higher than 14.7% it had reached in the year-ago period.
The government's total receipts for April-May stood at Rs 7.18 lakh crore, which is 19.7% of the full-year target. In the comparable year-ago period, the mop-up stood higher at 21%.
Revenue receipts which are lead by tax collections reached 19.8% of the annual target in the first two months as they stood at Rs 6.99 lakh crore.
Notably, the non-tax collection revenue has already reached more than half of its annual target as it came in at Rs 3.50 lakh crore, of which collection of dividends and profits reached 74% of the annual target.
Collection of dividends and profits came in at Rs 2.89 lakh crore. In the comparable period of the last fiscal, it had reached 86% of the annual target with collections worth Rs 7 lakh crore.
Essential Business Intelligence, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice, Daily Fuel, Gold and Silver Prices and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.