India’s fiscal deficit declined in April-June quarter

India’s fiscal deficit declined in April-June quarterJuly 31, 2024New Delhi, July 31 (IANS) The Centre’s fiscal deficit declined to 8.1 per cent of the full year estimate in the first quarter of the current financial year, compared with 25.3 per cent during the same period in the previous year, data released by the Finance Ministry on Wednesday showed. The fiscal deficit stood at Rs 1.36 lakh crore at the end of June.The increase in tax collections and high RBI dividend to the government of Rs 2.11 lakh crore has helped to restrict the fiscal deficit.Revenue receipts were higher at Rs 8.3 lakh crore or 26.5 per cent of the full year’s target compared with 22.4 per cent in Q1FY24.Tax revenue was 21 per cent of the full year estimate compared with 18.6 per cent in the previous year, the figures showed.Overall, the government has spent 20 per cent of its total expenditure of Rs 48.2 lakh crore Budgeted for the current fiscal.Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Union Budget 2024-25 has fixed the fiscal deficit at 4.9 per cent of the GDP from 5.1 per cent in the last financial year.She said that the government was sticking to the fiscal consolidation path and would bring this down further to 4.5 per cent next year.The revenue receipt target was also raised to Rs 31.3 lakh crore in FY25 compared with Rs 30 lakh crore in the interim budget.The capex spending was kept unchanged at Rs 11.11 lakh crore to spur growth.–IANSpannu/rad