Shine Jacob & Karan Choudhury highlight the red flags raised by the Controller General of Accounts.
Fiscal deficit is a reflection of government borrowings, which is used to bridge the gap between revenue and expenditure.
The government has budgeted to cut the fiscal deficit to 3.3 per cent of GDP or Rs 6.24 lakh crore in 2018-19, from 3.53 per cent in the previous financial year.
Fiscal deficit in the first four months of 2012-13 stood at 51.5 per cent of the budget estimates -- slightly better compared to 55.4 per cent in the same period a year ago -- according to Controller General of Accounts (CGA) data released on Friday.
For 2017-18, the government aims to bring down the fiscal deficit to 3.2 per cent of GDP. Last fiscal, it had met the 3.5 per cent target.
The government aims to further bring down the fiscal deficit -- the gap between expenditure and revenue -- to 3.5 per cent.
Free provision of food, cash transfers, and jobs in villages see enhanced flow of funds despite a precipitous fall in revenue. Till May, defence spend was nearly 30 per cent less than the previous year.
Almost all infrastructure ministries continued spending on capex throughout the lockdown, even as the Centre tried to maintain some semblance of economic normalcy.
The government is committed to restrict the fiscal deficit at 3.4 per cent of GDP as envisaged in the Budget.
In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit -- the difference between expenditure and revenue -- was Rs 6.12 lakh crore during April-November 2017-18
'The Budget numbers presented severely underestimate the magnitude of the unstated fiscal crisis that we went through in 2018-2019, which cannot be conceivably be fully reversed in 2019-2020,' points out Rathin Roy, director, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.
The Union government's fiscal deficit further widened to Rs 9.53 lakh crore, which is nearly 120 per cent of the annual budget estimate, at the end of October of the current financial year, according to official data released on Friday. The deficit widened mainly on account of poor revenue realisation. The lockdown imposed to curb spreading of coronavirus infections had significantly impacted business activities and in turn contributed to sluggish revenue realisation.
In a huge relief for India's Commonwealth Games contingent, its boxers were cleared of any doping violation, but they remained under the scanner for breaching the Games' strict 'no needle' policy.
The main gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Auto, TCS, Cipla, HDFC, HDFC Bank.
Estimates (BE), slightly better than 74.4 per cent in the same period a year ago, according to Controller General of Accounts (CGA) data released on Friday.
This is slightly better than the fiscal deficit position last year when it was 85.6 per cent of the Budget target.
Amidst a debate on controversies surrounding some of the Comptroller and Auditor General reports, the high level committee that went into the Commonwealth Games related projects, has suggested changes in the functioning and structure of top audit and vigilance bodies like the Comptroller and Auditor General making it a three-member body.
Is the curated and limited data put out by the central government sufficient enough to pass a judgement on the trend in GST collections, particularly that of the Centre?
Data released earlier by CAG shows capital expenditure by the Centre had contracted 9.2 per cent in Q2
The fiscal deficit situation during April-May of the last fiscal was 37.5 per cent of the Budget estimates.
It was 55.3 per cent for the same period last year, and data shows the fiscal deficit for April-May was kept in reasonable check in spite of heavy frontloading of expenditure.
The fiscal deficit, gap between expenditure and revenue.
The fiscal deficit in the first three months of current fiscal stood at Rs 2.86 lakh crore or 51.6 per cent of Budget estimates for 2015-16.
The fiscal deficit in the first five months of the current fiscal ended August stood at Rs 3.69 lakh crore, or 66.5 per cent, of Budget estimates for 2015-16.
The Indian contingent at the Commonwealth Games will appeal against the Commonwealth Games Federation court's decision to oust two of the country's athletes for violating the no needle policy in the Gold Coast.
In a massive reprieve to the Indian Commonwealth Games contingent, the doctor of the country's boxing team Amol Patil was on Tuesday let off with a reprimand in the syringe controversy as he was found guilty of not disposing needles safely after injecting vitamins to a fatigued boxer.
In his interim budget on February 17, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the fiscal deficit would not cross 4.6 per cent of GDP, revising an earlier target of 4.8 per cent.
Olympic Association is yet to get an official confirmation about shooting being scrapped from the programme of 2022 Commonwealth Games but said it will ask the organisers to reconsider its decision.
Country's fiscal deficit touched Rs 516,390 crore or 95.2 per cent of the annual target during April-December, the Controller General of Accounts said.
The CAG audit and other data suggests it could be far from the efficient new alternative that was once conceptualised. A conclusive review remains elusive till the government begins to release more granular and comparable data on the complex backend of GST to a deeper scrutiny, by researchers, auditors and the public.
Unperturbed by the rise in the fiscal deficit, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday exuded confidence that it would remain within the target of 4.8 per cent of GDP in the current financial year.
The size of the GDP in the second quarter of 2018-19 is estimated at Rs 33.98 lakh crore, as against Rs 31.72 lakh crore a year ago
If receipts from disinvestment, tax buoyancy and black money scheme offset shortfall in spectrum sale, higher expenditure due to pay commission's recommendations and capital expenditure, then the government would be able to meet the target of controlling fiscal deficit at 3.5 per cent of GDP this financial year.
Enhanced revenue generation is a priority for the government.
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