Fiscal deficit in November at 87 per cent of Budget Estimate

The Finance Ministry on Friday said that it was committed to effectively utilising the funds in the Budget to promote inclusive development while at the same time maintaining its fiscal consolidation path.

“The Government is committed to promoting and strengthening inclusive and sustainable development by ensuring proper and effective utilization of funds provided in the Annual Budget without compromising fiscal consolidation,” the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

The fiscal deficit-the difference between government expenditure and revenue-at the end of November 2015 stands at Rs 4.83 lakh crore, which is 87 per cent of the Budget Estimate for this financial year.  The fiscal deficit target for the entire financial year has been pegged at 3.9 per cent of GDP, or Rs 5.55 lakh crore.

“The present fiscal situation is an improvement over the previous year when the fiscal deficit was then 98.9 per cent of Budget Estimates 2014-15. In absolute terms, there is a decrease of Rs. 41, 611 crore over November 2014 figure,” the statement added.

The effective revenue deficit, defined as the revenue deficit after subtracting the grants for the creation of capital assets, stood at Rs. 2,64,404 crore in November 2015. This is down 20 per cent over November 2014.

The government has incurred Plan expenditure of Rs. 97,788 crore towards the creation of capital assets, which is 72 per cent of the Budget estimate of Rs. 1,35,257 crore.

[Source:- The Hindu]