The Centre's fiscal deficit for 2002-03 could have been lower by almost half-a-percentage point had it not borrowed an extra Rs 14,081 crore (Rs 140.81 billion).

The finance ministry could have actually reported a lower fiscal deficit of 5.4 per cent of the gross domestic product or Rs 1,30,566 crore (Rs 1,305.66 billion).

The provisional data released by the Controller General of Accounts for the year ended March 2003, however, put the fiscal deficit at 5.9 per cent of the GDP or Rs 1,44,647.34 crore (Rs 1,446.473 billion).

The provisional accounts data of the government finances showed that on March 31, 2003, the Centre had surplus cash of Rs 8,905 crore (Rs 89.05 billion) and Rs 5,176 crore (Rs 51.76 billion) of unutilised ways and means advances.

This was because the Centre had received a handsome cash infusion of Rs 13,800 crore (Rs 138 billion) as a result of the debt swap with states.

In 2001-02, the Centre had zero surplus cash and just Rs 219 crore (Rs 2.19 billion) of WMA left at the end of the fiscal.

The Centre, therefore, ended the last fiscal with a higher interest liability for itself, especially on the WMA portion.

While the debt swap with states had been planned for quite some time, it was finalised only in the last couple of weeks of March.

Thus, the amount paid back by the states came at a time when the Centre had already completed its borrowing programme for the fiscal.

The finance ministry completes its borrowings by February as it faces heavy payouts in the last month of the fiscal year.

The revised estimates in the Budget for 2003-04 showed that the finance ministry had not anticipated such a huge quantum of debt repayment by states. While the Centre had budgeted for Rs 18,251 crore (Rs 182.51 billion), it actually received Rs 34,282 crore (Rs 342.82 billion) from  the states.

The finance ministry used the excess amount to repay its loan to the National Small Savings Fund, set up in 1999.

Had the fiscal deficit figure been 5.4 per cent, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh might have been under pressure to budget for a much lower figure for the current fiscal.

With the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Bill set to become a reality, Singh would have had to take some harsh measures to prune expenditure and lower borrowings.

Final accounts

• The finance ministry could have actually reported a lower fiscal deficit of 5.4 per cent or Rs 1,30,566 crore (Rs 1,305.66 billion).
• The provisional data for the last fiscal, however, put the fiscal deficit at 5.9 per cent or Rs 1,44,647.34 crore (Rs 1,446.473 billion).
• Centre received a handsome cash infusion of Rs 13,800 crore (Rs 138 billion) in March 2003 as a result of the debt swap with states.