Fiscal deficit hits 36% of target at Aug-end

New Delhi: The Centre’s fiscal deficit in the first five months of 2023-24 touched 36 per cent of the full-year target, government data showed on Friday.

In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit - the gap between expenditure and revenue - was Rs 6.42 lakh crore as of August-end, according to the data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA). The deficit stood at 32.6 per cent of the Budget Estimates (BE) in the corresponding period of the financial year 2022-23.

In the Union Budget, the government projected to bring down the fiscal deficit to 5.9 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the current 2023-24 financial year. The fiscal deficit was 6.4 per cent of the GDP in 2022-23 against the earlier estimate of 6.71 per cent.