Centre `s fiscal deficit touches 74.5% of annual target at end of January
The Controller General of Accounts (CGA) in its latest data has showed that the Centre's fiscal deficit touched 74.5 per cent of the annual target at the end of January 2025. The deficit was 63.6 per cent of Revised Estimates (RE) of 2023-24 in the year-ago period. In actual terms, the fiscal deficit -- the gap between expenditure and revenue -- was Rs 11,69,542 crore during the April-January 2024-25 period.
The CGA data showed that the central government's tax revenue (net) was Rs 19.03 lakh crore, or 74.4 per cent of the RE of 2024-25. It was at 80.9 per cent during the corresponding year of the last financial year. The total expenditure was at Rs 35.7 lakh crore, or 75.7 per cent of the RE. In the year-ago period it was at 74.7 per cent of that year's RE.
According to the data, Rs 10,74,179 crore has been transferred to state governments as devolution of share of taxes by Government of India up to January, which is Rs 2,53,929 crore higher than the previous year. Out of the total revenue expenditure (Rs 28.12 lakh crore), Rs 8,75,461 crore was on account of interest payments and Rs 3,37,733 crore on account of major subsidies.
In the Union Budget presented in Parliament, the fiscal deficit for 2024-25 has been pegged at 4.8 per cent of GDP (lower than earlier estimate of 4.9 per cent) and at 4.4 per cent for 2025-26. In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit for the financial year ending March 2025 is estimated at Rs 15.69 lakh crore.
