Fiscal deficit in H1 of FY23 touches 37.3% of full-year target

For 2022-23, the fiscal deficit of the government is estimated to be 6.4 per cent of the GDP

The central government's fiscal deficit in the first half of the current financial year works out to be 37.3 per cent of the full-year target, according to official data released on Monday.

In actual terms, the fiscal deficit -- the difference between expenditure and revenue -- was Rs 6,19,849 crore during the April-September period of 2022-23.

It was 35 per cent of Budget Estimates (BE) in the corresponding period last fiscal.

As per the data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), the government's total receipts, including taxes, stood at Rs 12.03 lakh crore or 52.7 per cent of BE for 2022-23.

During the year-ago period, the collection was 55.6 per cent of BE 2021-22.

The tax revenue stood at about Rs 10.11 lakh crore or 52.3 per cent of this year's BE.

The central government's total expenditure was Rs 18.23 lakh crore or 46.2 per cent of the BE 2022-23. It was 46.7 per cent of BE 2021-22.

For 2022-23, the fiscal deficit of the government is estimated to be Rs 16.61 lakh crore or 6.4 per cent of the GDP.

According to the data, capital expenditure was 45.7 per cent of the full-year budget target in the current fiscal, compared to 41.4 per cent in the corresponding period last year, as per the monthly account of the union government up to September.

Out of the total revenue expenditure, Rs 4.36 lakh crore was on account of interest payments and Rs 1.98 lakh crore on account of major subsidies.