As per the government figures released on Tuesday, the fiscal deficit for 2021-22 was 6.71 percent of GDP, which is lower than the 6.9 percent forecast by the Finance Ministry in the updated Budget Estimates.
The Controller General of Accounts (CGA) unveiled the Union government's revenue-expenditure figures for 2020-21, saying that the fiscal imbalance in absolute terms was Rs 15,86,537 crore (provisional). At the end of 2021-22, the revenue shortfall was 4.37 percent.
"The fiscal deficit of the Government of India (GoI) was contained marginally below the FY2022 revised estimate, benefiting from higher tax (+Rs. 0.55 trillion) and non-tax (+Rs. 0.34 trillion) revenue receipts and lower capital spending (-Rs. 0.1 trillion), which absorbed the deficit in non-debt capital receipts (-Rs. 0.61 trillion) and higher revenue expenditure (+Rs. 0.34 trillion)," according to ICRA's Aditi Nayar.
In the budget presented in February 2021, the government estimated the fiscal deficit for the previous fiscal year to be 6.8% of GDP.
As per the Centre's updated estimates in the Budget for 2022-23, the fiscal deficit for the fiscal year ending in March will be 6.9% of GDP, or Rs 15,91,089 crore.
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