According to official figures issued on Monday, the Central Government’s fiscal deficit in end-January was 58.9% of the yearly budget plan for 2021-22. During the previous fiscal year’s same time, the budget deficit was 66.8% of the Revised Estimate (RE) for 2020-21. According to figures issued by the Controller General of Accounts, the deficit was $9,37,868 crore at the end of January 2022, compared to an upwardly revised annual forecast of 15.91 lakh crore (CGA).
The Fiscal Deficit is supposed to increase this fiscal year
The country’s fiscal deficit — the gap between total revenue and total government spending — is expected to be greater this fiscal year, ending in March 2022, at 6.9%, up from 6.8% previously forecast. The government’s overall receipts at the end of January were Rs 18.71 lakh crore or 85.9% of the Revised Estimates (RE) for 2021-22. The collection was nearly 80% of the RE for 2020-21 in the previous fiscal year’s same time.
So far, tax (net) revenue has reached 87.7% of the RE for 2021-22. In the previous fiscal year’s same quarter, it was 82 percent of RE 2020-21. During April-January 2021-22, net tax revenue was 15.47 lakh crore in actual terms. The Central Government’s total expenditure at the end of January, according to CGA data, was 28.09 lakh crore, or 74.5 percent of this year’s RE. In the previous period, it was 73 percent of RE.
The government’s fiscal deficit for 2022-23 is expected to be Rs 16,61,196 crore. The Revised Estimate for 2021-22 shows a fiscal deficit of Rs 15,91,089 crore, compared to Rs 15,06,812 crore in the Budget Estimate. The budget deficit for 2020-21 was 9.3 percent of GDP (GDP).