Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today pegged the fiscal deficit for 2010-11 at 5.5 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The fiscal deficit, which is the difference between total expenditure and revenue, as percentage of GDP will come down from 6.9 per cent in the revised estimates for the current fiscal, he said unveiling the 2010-11 budget in the Lok Sabha.
The market borrowings for the next fiscal has been pegged at Rs 3.45 lakh crore, he said, adding the schedule of borrowing will be decided in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India.
The government also exuded confidence of introducing major reforms on direct and indirect taxes front in the form of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Direct Taxes Code (DTC) from April 1, 2011.
“I am confident that the government will be in a position to implement DTC from April 1, 2011... It will be my earnest endeavour to implement GST along with DTC from April 1, 2011,” Mr. Mukherjee said in his Budget speech.
This means that GST would miss its earlier introduction deadline of April 1, 2010, by a year.
While DTC will replace the archaic Income Tax Act, GST will replace most indirect taxes at central and states levels like service tax, excise duty, VAT, cesses, surcharges and local levies.
