The government had, in the budget, targeted fiscal deficit to come down to 2.5 per cent of GDP this fiscal, although it was 3 per cent under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act.
The main risk to the fiscal deficit arises from subsidies, which are threatening to far exceed the provision made for them in the Budget.
The government has pegged the fiscal deficit for the next fiscal at 4.6 per cent, which works out to be Rs 4,12,817 crore (Rs 4,128.17 billion).
The government is working on easing of FDI norms.
FM, in the revised estimates for 2012-13, projected a fiscal deficit of 5.2 per cent. This is now likely to be revised in light of better than expected revenue realisation and savings.
Around 80 lakh women in Maharashtra have been disqualified from the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin scheme after failing to meet the e-KYC deadline, leading to accusations from opposition parties that the state government is reducing beneficiaries due to financial constraints.
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.
On the revenue front, the finance ministry was expecting higher proceeds from non-tax revenue.
The Budget for 2010-11 estimates the fiscal deficit, which represents excess government expenditure over its revenue, at Rs 3,81,408 crore or 5.5 per cent of GDP.
As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh shared with industry leaders in New Delhi on Sunday, his government's intent to wind down stimulus measures next year, Mukherjee told reporters in St Andrews, Scotland, that he had already told Parliament high fiscal deficit was not sustainable in the long run.
With this, fiscal deficit during April-October, 2009 has already reached over 61 per cent of the targeted level of over Rs 4 lakh crore (Rs 4 trillion) for the current fiscal. The government is projecting fiscal deficit of 6.8 per cent of GDP for the current fiscal.
The Centre's fiscal deficit fell by 42 per cent to Rs 90,915 crore (Rs 909.15 billion) during April-July, 2010, year-on-year, on increased revenue receipts from the auction of 3G spectrum.
However, independent economists are not as gung-ho as the finance ministry over the likelihood of deficit target being met this time around, says Indivjal Dhasmana.
India's fiscal deficit grew from 2.7 per cent to 6.8 per cent of GDP, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said.
In the corresponding period of the last financial year, fiscal deficit was 39.4 per cent of the estimates.
'FPIs are unlikely to return unless there is equilibrium between valuation premium and earnings growth.'
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.
Besides, India would meet over half of its proposed expenditure for the next fiscal with its billionaires' wealth, while the American billionaires' total wealth would meet only one-third of their country's proposed $3 trillion expenditure in the next financial year.
The government Rs 20 lakh crore package includes Rs 1.7 lakh crore of fiscal stimulus announced in the first phase, Rs 5.6 lakh crore stimulus provided through various monetary policy measures and Rs 5.94 lakh crore through the second phase, implying Rs 6.70 lakh crore package is still to be announced.
Spectrum auction proceeds to help plug fiscal deficit: Moody's.
The Centre's fiscal deficit narrowed by 39.08 per cent year-on-year to Rs 1.86 lakh crore (Rs 1.86 trillion) in April-November, 2010, on the back of better-than-expected revenue from the sale of spectrum and robust tax collections.
The recommendations will benefit 47 lakh central government employees and 52 lakh pensioners.
The states will be able to raise additional open market loans of about Rs 21,000 crore (Rs 210 billion) in the current year, according to the 2009-10 Budget estimates presented on Monday. According to Budget estimates of 2009-10, the states' share of taxes and duties is expected to increase to Rs 1,64,361 crore (Rs 1,643.61 billion) against Rs 1,60,179 crore (Rs 1,601.79 billion) in 2008-09.
India's fiscal deficit is projected to more than double to 6 per cent of GDP this fiscal against the budgetary target of 2.5 per cent. For the next fiscal, the deficit is estimated to be 5.5 per cent of GDP.
India's Central government is likely to see its fertiliser subsidy bill double to a record 3.4 trillion in FY27, up from the Budget estimate of 1.7 trillion, due to surging global fertiliser prices exacerbated by the West Asia war. This significant increase, coupled with revenue losses from excise duty cuts for oil-marketing companies, is straining the government's fiscal space, though capital expenditure plans remain unchanged.
The Prime Minister's economic panel on Wednesday said the government needs to draw a programme to rein in the fiscal deficit of over six per cent which is not sustainable.
Net tax receipts in the first half of the fiscal stood at Rs 3.23 lakh crore (Rs 3.23 trillion), or 33.1 per cent of BE, the data released by the Controller General of Accounts today showed.
India's budget for 2015/16 highlighted the government's commitment to keeping the fiscal deficit low.
Guvt plans to bring down the fiscal deficit to 4.8 per cent in the next fiscal, 4.2 per cent in 2014-15, 3.6 per cent in 2015-16 and to three per cent in 2016-17.
Anjalika Bardalai, senior economist and editor at Economist Intelligence Unit says fiscal deficit is the biggest downside risk to India's growth story.
On the fiscal deficit front, its president for research flagged concerns over the revenue collections from the taxation front and also about the government not being able to achieve its Rs 40,000-crore (Rs 400-billion) divestment target.
The government is committed to restricting the fiscal deficit at 4.1 per cent of the GDP during the current financial year
The government is likely to overshoot its FY14 fiscal deficit estimate by 0.2-0.3 per cent to 4.8- 4.9 per cent as tax revenues have not been up to expectations, DBS said.
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.
The Planning Commission on Monday said the fiscal deficit, the difference between total revenue and expenditure, will not exceed the budgetary estimate of 6.8 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).
The government aims to further bring down the fiscal deficit -- the gap between expenditure and revenue -- to 3.5 per cent.
The Centre's fiscal deficit mounted to Rs 110,470 crore (Rs 1.104 trillion) till February despite higher growth in tax collections.
Under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, the Centre should have eliminated the revenue deficit and brought down the fiscal deficit to 3 per cent of gross domestic product by March 2008. This target was extended by a year. Then, due to the global economic crisis, the government decided to suspend implementation of the FRBMA. As a result, the fiscal deficit for 2008-09 crossed 6 per cent of GDP and is projected at 5.5 per cent in fiscal 2009-10.
The government on Monday said the fiscal deficit for the current financial year will be contained at 4.6 per cent of GDP.
