'Fiscal deficit could still be within Budget estimate'

Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said that the fiscal deficit could still be within the budget estimate of Rs 1,48,686 crore despite the data up to May showing that the deficit had already reached around 50 per cent of the budget target.

'It is good that spending is happening. We are not unhappy about that. We should be able to meet our budget target,' Chidambaram told reporters when asked about the latest data released by the Controller General of Accounts for the first two months.

As per the data released by the CGA, a step up in plan expenditure has pushed up the fiscal deficit during April-May to Rs 72,088 crore, which is 48.5 per cent of the budget estimates.

Reacting to the increase in plan expenditure Chidambaram said that more spending would mean more money in the system.

The CGA figures had also shown that the revenue deficit upto May was Rs 68,620 crore which is 81 per cent of the budget estimates of Rs 84,727 crore.

The revenue deficit during April-May last year was just Rs 44,154 crore.