The fiscal deficit in the first two months of 2014-15 was Rs.2.40 lakh crore or 45.6 per cent of Budget Estimates for the whole financial year. The fiscal deficit — the gap between expenditure and revenue — for the whole fiscal has been pegged at Rs.5.28 lakh crore.
The deficit during the same period last year was 33.3 per cent of Budget Estimates. The fiscal deficit was Rs.5.08 lakh crore or 4.5 per cent of GDP in 2013-14, down from 4.9 per cent in the previous year.
The government had put in place a fiscal consolidation roadmap according to which the fiscal deficit has to be brought down to 3 per cent of GDP by 2016-17.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is scheduled to present the maiden budget of the new government on July 10 in which he is expected to spell out the fiscal policies.
Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram in his Interim Budget speech had set the fiscal deficit target for 2014-15 at 4.1 per cent of GDP.
The data released by the Controller and Accounts General further revealed that the total expenditure of the government during April and May was Rs.2.80 lakh crore or 15.9 per cent of the entire year estimates. Of the total expenditure, Plan spending was Rs.59,609 crore and non-Plan Rs.2.21 lakh crore.
Revenue collection was Rs.38,505 crore or 3.3 per cent of the estimates. It was 3.4 per cent of the estimates in 2013-14. Total receipts (from revenue and non-debt capital) of the government during the two months were Rs.39,502 crore.
The data said the revenue deficit in the two months was Rs.2.06 lakh crore or 53.6 per cent of the estimates.
