India's Apr-Feb fiscal deficit at Rs 15.01 lakh cr, reaches 86.5% of FY24 target

The fiscal deficit during the same period in FY23 stood at Rs 14.53 lakh crore.

The current financial year began on April 1, 2023.

During the Interim Union Budget announcement, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that the government has revised its fiscal deficit target for FY24 downward by 10 basis points to 5.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

The government aims to further bring it down to 5.1 percent in the subsequent financial year.

During the April-February period of FY24, the total expenditure amounted to Rs 37.47 lakh crore, reaching approximately 83 percent of the annual target, as compared to Rs 34.94 lakh crore observed in the preceding year.

In terms of capital expenditure, utilized for constructing physical infrastructure, the government spent Rs 8.05 lakh crore between April and February, which represents 84.8 percent of its FY24 target. This figure surpasses the Rs 5.90 lakh crore spent during the same period in the previous year.

Furthermore, the government's net tax revenues for April-February totalled Rs 18.5 lakh crore, accounting for 79.6 percent of the overall target. In the corresponding period of FY23, this figure stood at Rs 17.32 lakh crore.

During the same period, non-tax revenue amounted to Rs 3.6 lakh crore, reaching approximately 95.9 percent of the overall target, according to data.

Total receipts for the April-February period stood at Rs 22.5 lakh crore, equivalent to 81.5 percent of the overall target.

India's revenue gap for the period in question was Rs 7.32 lakh crore, accounting for 87 percent of the FY24 target.