Govt will meet fiscal deficit target, says Mayaram

The government wants to narrow the deficit to 4.8% of GDP this year

The government will meet the fiscal deficit target of 4.8% of GDP for the current financial year, a top Finance Ministry official said today.

 

"We will meet the fiscal deficit target for the current fiscal year," Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram said here.

 

Finance Minister P Chidambaram has on many occasions reiterated that a red line has been drawn for the fiscal deficit and it will not be breached. The government wants to narrow the deficit from 4.9% of GDP last year.

 

The fiscal deficit in the first six months of the current financial year touched Rs 4.12 lakh crore, or 76% of the budget estimate of Rs 5.42 lakh crore, government data showed today.

 

A year earlier, the difference between government receipts and spending had reached 65.6% of the budget target.

 

The government on September 18 unveiled austerity measures that will cut non-plan expenditure by 10%. The steps include a freeze on fresh appointments and a bar on executive class air travel.