Fiscal deficit touches Rs 3.24 lakh crore

The fiscal deficit touched 61.2 per cent 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 per cent of Budget Estimates (BE) of that year.

The data released by the Controller General of Accounts shows that the total expenditure of the government during April-July was over Rs 5.03 lakh crore or 28.1 per cent 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

per cent 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 per cent of the BE.

The fiscal deficit was over Rs 5.08 lakh crore or 4.5 per cent of GDP in 2013-14. It was 4.9 per cent 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 per cent 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 per cent of the GDP by 2016-17.