Fiscal prudence reflects in data
Fiscal deficit till Dec 2023 was 55% of the full year’s BE as against 59.8% in previous corresponding period: CGA
The central government’s debt management in the first three quarters of 2023-24 has shown perceptible improvement in fiscal health. It gets reflected in not just fiscal, revenue, and primary deficits, but also in the quality of expenditure.
According to the provisional estimates of the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), the government’s fiscal deficit till December 2023 was 55 per cent of the full year’s budgetary estimate, while it was 59.8 per cent in the corresponding period previous fiscal (coppy). In absolute terms, the actual deficit up to December 2023 stood at Rs9.8 lakh crore as against the budgeted estimate of Rs17.9 lakh crore for the entire financial year.
The fall in revenue deficit was even steeper, from 38.9 per cent in April-December 2023 from 56.3 per cent in the same period a year ago. Revenue deficit, being the excess of revenue expenditure over revenue receipts, is that component of government spending that does not helping economic development. It includes salaries, pensions, subsidies, interest payment, etc.
The primary deficit, the gap between the fiscal deficit and the interest payment on earlier borrowings, also went down substantially, reaching 33.1 per cent in the April-December 2023 period from 43.3 per cent a year ago.
On the expenditure side, the government expenditure up to December 2023 was Rs23.8 lakh crore, or 68 per cent of the annual goal, lower than 72.9 per cent in the same period last year, the CGA report said. “Out of the total revenue expenditure, Rs7.5 lakh crore was on account of interest payments.”
On the other hand, capital expenditure rose to Rs6.74 lakh crore during April-December 2023-24, or 67.3 per cent of the budget estimates, relative to 65.4 per cent in the same period in 2022-23.
“Growth in case of India has remained strong for Q3 2023-24 as the growth numbers have been higher than anticipated, which is a combination of several factors, including narrowing of trade deficit, sustained momentum in investments, and a pick-up in domestic demand in the quarter,” the CGA report
