Fiscal deficit for 2021-22 at 6.7% of GDP, lower than earlier estimate

Fiscal deficit for 2021-22 worked out to be 6.71 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP), lower than 6.9 per cent projected by the Finance Ministry in the revised Budget Estimates, according to government data released on Tuesday.

Unveiling the revenue-expenditure data of the Union government for 2020-21, the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) said that the fiscal deficit in the absolute terms was Rs 15,86,537 crore (provisional).

The revenue deficit at the end of 2021-22 was 4.37 per cent.

For the last financial year, the government had initially pegged the fiscal deficit at 6.8 per cent of the GDP in the budget presented in February 2021.

The government in the revised estimates in the Budget for 2022-23 forecast a higher fiscal deficit of 6.9 per cent of the GDP or Rs 15,91,089 crore for the fiscal ended in March.