India`s fiscal deficit improves to 5.6% of GDP in FY24
Amid higher revenue realisation and lower expenditure, India’s fiscal deficit - the gap between expenditure and revenue - came in at 5.6% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in FY 2023-24 (FY24), lower than the revised estimate (RE) of 5.8%.
In actual terms, the fiscal deficit stood at Rs 16.53 lakh crore, or 5.63 per cent of the GDP, which grew 8.2 per cent in 2023-24. In the revised estimate for 2023-24, the government had in the interim Budget presented in Parliament on February 1 projected the fiscal deficit of Rs 17.34 lakh crore, or 5.8 per cent of the GDP.
According to the Controller General of India (CGA) data, the government’s revenue collection was 101.2% of the revised estimates (RE) presented in the Budget. Net tax collection was Rs 23.26 lakh crore in the financial year ending March 2024, while the expenditure stood Rs 44.42 lakh crore. The expenditure during the last fiscal was 98.9% of the RE.
