India's fiscal deficit rises to Rs 6.42 trillion, 36% of FY24 target

India's fiscal deficit in the first five months of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) stood at Rs 6.42 trillion, 36 per cent of the full-year target of Rs 17.87 trillion, data released by the Controller General of Accounts on Friday showed.

In the same period in FY23, the fiscal deficit was 32.6 per cent of the full-year target. India aims to narrow its fiscal deficit to 5.9 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) by the end of the current financial year, against 6.4 per cent last year.

The primary deficit, which shows fiscal deficit without the interest payment, stood at Rs 2.75 trillion, 38.9 per cent of the full-year target of Rs 7.06 trillion. Last year, between April and August, it was 28.2 per cent of the budgetary estimate.

Moreover, the revenue deficit at Rs 2.84 trillion was 32.7 per cent of the full-year estimate of Rs 8.70 trillion. The net tax revenue in the April-August period was Rs 8.04 trillion, or 34.5 per cent of the annual estimate, higher than Rs 7 trillion in the same period last year, according to the data.

The corporate tax collections rose over 15 per cent year-on-year to Rs 2.39 trillion.

Also, the total expenditure during the period was Rs 16.72 trillion. It was 37.1 per cent of the annual goal, higher than the Rs 13.90 trillion in the same period last year.

In the first five months of the financial year, government capital expenditure or spending on building infrastructure was Rs 3.74 trillion, 37.4 per cent of the annual target, higher than Rs 2.52 trillion in the same period a year earlier.