The surge in December was spurred by a huge increase in capital expenditure, which more than doubled year-on-year to Rs 87,985 crore.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman (Photo:ANI)
The central government’s fiscal deficit widened to Rs 9.82 lakh crore in April-December from Rs 9.07 lakh crore in April-November, data released by the Controller General of Accounts showed on Wednesday.
The fiscal deficit for the first nine months of the current financial year accounts for 55% of the full-year target of Rs 17.87 lakh crore. The fiscal deficit in April-December 2022 was 59.8 percent of the target for 2022-23.
The fiscal deficit in December stands at Rs 75,694 crore which is more than five times what it was in December 2022. However, for April-December 2023 as a whole, the fiscal deficit was down 1% year-on-year.
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The surge in December was spurred by a huge increase in capital expenditure, which more than doubled year-on-year to Rs 87,985 crore.
This was also responsible for pushing up the Indian government’s total expenditure last month by 7% to Rs 4.02 lakh crore.
On the income side, total receipts were down 9.5% year-on-year in December at Rs 3.26 lakh crore, with net tax revenue 11.1% lower even as gross tax revenue rose nearly 13% on the back of a 15% rise in corporate tax collections and 24% spike in the income tax mop-up.
For the April to December period, the government’s total receipts were up 13.5% at Rs 20.72 lakh crore. While tax collections have been robust, non-tax revenue crossed the Budget estimate of Rs 3.02 lakh crore in December, standing at Rs 3.12 lakh crore so far this year.
The fiscal deficit data comes a day before Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tables the interim Budget for 2024-25.
Sitharaman is expected to announce a fiscal deficit target of 5.3% of the GDP for next year as the government looks to meet its medium-term objective of 4.5% by 2025-26.
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