Taxes to come to govt's aid, achieve 6.4% fiscal deficit goal for FY23

Centre has already collected half the targeted revenue in the first six months of the current financial year even as customs and excise duty collection figures are yet to come in

Robust tax collections  --   both from direct taxes and goods and services tax (GST)  -- are expected to give the Centre leeway in reining in fiscal deficit at the targeted 6.4 per cent of FY23 GDP despite rising fertiliser and food subsidy, and likely decline in union excise duty mop up.  

The government has so far collected Rs 13.49 trillion if the latest numbers of direct tax collections till October 8, central GST figures till September and customs and union excise duty figures till August are taken into consideration.

This constitutes 48.9 per cent of the Budgeted figure of Rs