New Delhi, June 28 (IANS) The Centre’s fiscal deficit narrowed to 3 per cent of the full-year estimate in the first two months of the current financial year (2024-25) compared to 11.8 per cent during the same period of the previous fiscal on the back of strong revenue growth and higher dividend from the RBI, official data released on Friday showed.
Net tax revenues in April-May stood at Rs 3.19 lakh crore, or 12 per cent of the annual target, which is higher than the corresponding figures of Rs 2.78 lakh crore in the same period last year.
The government’s total expenditure in the same period was Rs 6.23 lakh crore, or about 13 per cent of the annual target. In April-May 2023, the overall expenditure was Rs 6.26 lakh crore.
While net tax revenues rose 15 per cent, non-tax revenues increased 87 per cent owing to the huge Rs 2.1 lakh crore RBI dividend to the government.
In value terms, the fiscal deficit until May was Rs 50,615 crore, owing to a surplus of Rs 1.6 lakh crore in May, with total receipts at Rs 5.73 lakh crore and total expenditure at Rs 6.23 lakh crore.
“The Government of India witnessed a fiscal surplus of Rs 1.6 lakh crore in May 2024 owing to the large RBI dividend transfer of Rs 2.1 lakh crore that month. This pulled down the fiscal deficit to Rs 50,615 crore or a mere 3 per cent of the FY2025 Interim Budget estimates in April-May FY2025, from Rs. 2.1 lakh crore in April-May FY2024,” said ICRA chief economist Aditi Nayar.
While revenue expenditure rose by 4.7 per cent YoY, capex contracted by 14.4 per cent during this period, likely dampened by a temporary pause in execution amid the Model Code of Conduct for the Lok Sabha polls, she added.
The Finance Ministry aims to narrow the country’s fiscal deficit to 4.5 per cent of gross domestic product by the end of FY26, from the 5.1 per cent projected in the current financial year.
“The revenue upside seen from non-tax, and to a smaller extent, tax receipts suggest headroom to both boost expenditure and target a faster fiscal consolidation than what was pencilled in the Interim Budget for FY25,” said Nayar.
The government is expected to present the full budget for 2024-25 in the second half of July.
–IANS
sps/arm
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by TodayIndia.news and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of TodayIndia.news We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, TodayIndia.news takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
