April-July fiscal deficit at $53.7 billion

indian-currencyNew Delhi: The fiscal deficit touched 61.2 percent of full year Budget Estimates or over Rs 3.24 lakh crore in end July.

During the April-July period of 2013-14 fiscal, the deficit was 62.8 percent of Budget Estimates (BE) of that year.

The data released by the Controller General of Accounts today shows that the total expenditure of the government during April-July was over Rs 5.03 lakh crore or 28.1 percent of the entire year estimates.

Of the total expenditure, plan spending was over Rs 1.32 lakh crore and under non-plan head it was Rs 3,71 lakh crore.

Revenue collection was over Rs 1.75 lakh crore or 14.8 percent of the BE.

Total receipts (from revenue and non-debt capital) of the government during the four months was over Rs 1.79 lakh crore.

The data said revenue deficit in the four months was over Rs 2.66 lakh crore or 70.4 percent of the BE.

The fiscal deficit was over Rs 5.08 lakh crore or 4.5 percent of GDP in 2013-14. It was 4.9 percent in 2012-13.

For entire 2014-15, fiscal deficit - gap between government expenditure and revenue - for the whole fiscal has been pegged at Rs 5.31 lakh crore or 4.1 percent of GDP.

The government had put in place a fiscal consolidation roadmap as per which the fiscal deficit has to be brought down to 3 percent of the GDP by 2016-17.----- PTI