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| It may also ask for fresh initiatives to deploy the mounting foreign exchange reserves and the revival of efforts to reduce the subsidy bill, especially on food.
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| Along with this the receipts position of the Centre continues to be a cause for concern, affecting the level of fiscal deficit. Till the end of September, the deficit has touched 52.7 per cent of the budgeted estimate.
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| While the finance ministry is banking on an interim dividend from public sector oil companies to bridge the gap in disinvestment receipts, which has touched Rs 1,098 crore against the budget estimate of Rs 13,000 crore, this will not be enough to plug the gap in receipts, as overall tax receipts are also a cause for concern.
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| The tax collections have risen by only 12 per cent to Rs 1,14,414 crore till the end of October. This is because of the weak trend in indirect tax, with both excise and customs growing by only about eight per cent in the seven month period of this fiscal.
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| Excise mop up has increased by 8.82 per cent to Rs 47,679 crore, while customs has risen by 8.83 per cent to Rs 27,977 crore in the April to October period. Direct taxes, however, have shown a more robust trend.
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| The expenditure trends in the central ministries have been fairly even with no major hiccups. The cash management initiative introduced in six ministries in the the Budget for 2003-04 has shown results. But the worry still remains the mounting subsidy bill especially on food.
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| While the debt swap for the state governments has yielded rs 32,000 crore for the Centre, it has pushed the non plan capital expenditure way beyond the budget target of Rs 28,437 crore to touch Rs 40,664 crore. This is 143 per cent of the budget estimate.
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| The ministry is also expected to take credit for the robust show by the stock markets, though the carrying cost for the mounting forex reserves is expected to be an area of concern. |
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