Fiscal deficit at Rs 7.16 lakh cr touches 115% of annual target during April-November, says govt

New Delhi: The country’s fiscal deficit touched 114.8 percent of the full-year target of Rs 6.24 lakh crore at the end of November on account of lower revenue collections, showed government data on Thursday. The fiscal deficit, or gap between expenditure and revenue, stood at Rs 7.16 lakh crore during April-November of the current financial year, reflecting deterioration in public finances. [caption id=“attachment_4495585” align=“alignleft” width=“300”] Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] At the end of November 2017, the deficit was 112 percent of the Budget Estimate (BE). The government has budgeted to cut the fiscal deficit to 3.3 percent of GDP in 2018-19, from 3.53 percent in the previous financial year. According to the data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), the total revenue receipts of the government totalled Rs 8.7 lakh crore or 50.4 percent of BE in 2018-19 till November, compared with 53.1 percent during the same period last year. The government has budgeted to mop up Rs 17.25 lakh crore revenue during the current fiscal. Tax revenue was 49.4 percent of BE, compared with 57 percent in the comparable period of the previous year. According to the CGA data, the total expenditure of the government at November-end was Rs 16.13 lakh crore or 66.1 percent of BE. The expenditure in terms of percentage of BE was higher in the year-ago period.