The central government's fiscal deficit -- the difference between its total expenditure and receipts, excluding borrowings -- for 2006-07 has been reined in at 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product.
Says fiscal trajectory has changed for the better over the past months.
A whopping 29 per cent growth in the Centre's fiscal deficit to Rs 1,55,833 crore (Rs 1558.33 billion) or 6.8 per cent of GDP in 2001-02 has made the Comptroller and Auditor General sceptical of the long term target of two per cent by 2006.
On the basis of Budget projections, the Centre needs Rs 7.3 trillion revenue during December-March and its expenditure must be limited to Rs 6.7 trillion.
India's merchandise exports in February shrank for the 15th straight month on continued weak demand from Europe, the South Asian nation's biggest market.
Modi said that for nearly one and a half years he has been putting in place details of new schemes to give new pace to the country's development and curb poverty.
Domestic customers will get access to high-quality Swiss products such as watches, chocolates, biscuits, and clocks at lower prices as India will phase out customs duties under its trade pact with the EFTA bloc on these goods over a period of time. India and the four-European nation bloc EFTA signed a trade and economic partnership agreement (TEPA) on Sunday to boost trade and investments between the two regions. The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.
Showing signs of financial strain, the government's fiscal deficit in the first five months of the ongoing financial year has already touched 74.6 per cent of the budget estimate.
'Since the bilateral deficit is a reality -- and a worry -- we need to find a way to deal with it,' says Ravi Bhoothalingam.
India plans to keep its fiscal deficit within 3.9% of GDP.
'We now look at divestment as an opportunity for maximising the value of public assets, not necessarily as a short-term resource-raising measure.'
The World Bank has warned India that its growth prospects are weakened by high fiscal deficits and slow reforms, and the country needs to accelerate poverty reduction efforts.
The dividends for the economy from such a rapid rise in capital expenditure would be huge, observes A K Bhattacharya.
The government had breached its fiscal deficit target given in the Budget for 2017-18 in November itself, touching 112 per cent of the limit.
'If we are to be a contributor to the economy, we have to reduce carbon and imports.' 'We will achieve both -- that's our target.'
Contrary to the assertion of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India that the reduction in access deficit charge on incoming international calls would put a check on the grey market, Cellular Operators Association of India on Monday said it would m
There are many collateral advantages of taking the tough decision.
India's fiscal deficit touched Rs 4.57 lakh crore or 84.4 per cent of budget estimates in the first seven months of the current fiscal, reflecting signs of stress in government finances.
At a time when major economies have increased spending, India will have to do the same.
Spectrum auction and divestment proceeds likely to disappoint, subsidies are likely to overshoot the Budget target and there might also be some shortfall in tax collections.
Growing concerns over slower-than-expected margin recovery, amid weak deposit growth have caught HDFC Bank's investors off guard. HDFC Bank's stock on Wednesday plunged nearly 9 per cent to hit an intraday low of Rs 1,527 on the BSE after reporting weaker-than-expected earnings in the third quarter (October - December) of the current financial year (Q3FY24). The shares of India's biggest private lender closed at Rs 1,536.9, down 8.46 per cent.
Lower reduction in fiscal deficit is to stimulate demand in a weak economic environment post demonetisation.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said for the first time fiscal deficit target will be met without budgetary cuts.
FinCom prescribes scrapping of effective revenue deficit.
.jpg)
The government on Tuesday raised excise duty on petrol by Rs 2.25 per litre and by Re 1 a litre on diesel but retail pump rates will not be increased as oil firms decided to absorb the duty change for the time being.
India is not so worried about meeting fiscal deficit target.
Market participants attribute the stability to the Reserve Bank of India's timely intervention in the foreign exchange market, both in terms of selling and buying dollars.
The Centre has projected reining in its fiscal deficit at 3.3 per cent of GDP in FY19.
In 2015, India chemicals industry had a market size of $144 billion.
The scarcity of resources is particularly evident in the case of Rajasthan compared to many other states.
Eminent economist Arvind Panagariya has said India is on the cusp of returning to a high growth trajectory and voiced confidence that the country will become the world's third-largest economy by 2027-28. Currently, India is the fifth largest economy "so it's another five years.We are already in (the year) 2023. "So 2027-28, India should be the third-largest economy," Panagariya, Columbia University Professor and former Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog, told PTI in an interview in New York.
Budget-makers in North Block are looking to maintain this fiscal status quo, in spite of tax revenues nowhere close to where the government wants and in spite of possible higher expenditure commitments.
If the Budget makes no big announcements on new schemes, projects, or tax giveaways, the government would face a major political dilemma as it may have to reluctantly consider shunning the practice of unveiling pre-election sops to woo voters, notes A K Bhattacharya.
The RBI raked in a massive net income gain from foreign exchange currency sales as a buffer for the rupee during tumultuous geopolitical upheavals last year owing to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Both the government and RBI are expecting the CAD to be below $56 billion in the current fiscal compared to the record high of $88.2 billion, or 4.8 per cent of the GDP last fiscal.
Per capita income has more than doubled to Rs 1.97 lakh in around nine years. Indian economy has increased in size from being 10th to 5th largest in the world in the past nine years. Seven priorities of the Budget, 'Saptarishi', are inclusive development, reaching the last mile, infrastructure and investment, unleashing the potential, green growth, youth power and financial sector.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday raised the personal income tax rebate limit, doled out sops on small savings and announced one of the biggest hikes in capital spending in the past decade as she did a tight rope walk in the Budget between staying fiscally prudent and meeting public expectations in the year before general elections.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPI) flows have turned positive on a trailing 12-month (TTM) basis for the first time since December 2021. Thanks to robust inflows over the past three months, the TTM overseas flows into domestic equities stand at over $7.3 billion-the most since November 2021. This has helped propel one-year Nifty returns to 12 per cent.
'We had tremendous faith in honorable Modiji in his second term as he was well-settled. Sadly that has been belied.'
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances