India's fiscal deficit between April-May stood at around 3 per cent of the overall target for FY25, 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.
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.
The fiscal deficit stood at Rs 16.54 trillion in FY24, against the budgetary target of Rs 17.86 trillion. 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 Centre has set an FY25 fiscal deficit target of 5.1 per cent, or Rs 16.85 trillion, in order to achieve a fiscal deficit of 4.5 per cent of GDP by FY26.