Team Blitz India
NEW DELHI: The Centre’s fiscal deficit for April-May of the FY25 period was 3 per cent of the budgeted estimate at Rs 50,615 crore, down from 11.8 per cent of the budget estimate in the corresponding period last year, according to the data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) on June 28.
The revenue receipts, however, exceeded the expenditure, resulting in a surplus of Rs 90,923 crore, the CGA data showed. Higher tax revenue and the RBI dividend have kept the revenue receipts at 19 per cent of the budgeted estimates for April-May FY25 period, compared to around 15 per cent in the corresponding period last year.
Due to the general elections, government spending for this period was impacted.The fiscal deficit—the gap between expenditure and revenue—stood at Rs 16.54 trillion in FY24, against the budgetary target of Rs 17.86 trillion, according to government data. Aided by higher-than-expected tax receipts, the Union Government contained the fiscal deficit at 5.6 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023-24 (FY24), compared with the Revised Estimates of 5.8 per cent.
The Interim Budget presented in February had revised the fiscal gap estimate from the initial 5.9 per cent of GDP to 5.8 per cent for FY24. A fiscal deficit arises when government spending exceeds its revenue.
The windfall arising from the RBI dividend is likely to provide additional leeway of Rs 1 trillion to the Government for enhanced expenditures or a sharper fiscal consolidation, according to experts.
