April-Oct fiscal deficit at 96% of Budget Estimate

The Centre’s fiscal deficit for April-October, the first seven months of the financial year, was Rs 5.25 lakh crore or 96.1 per cent of the full-year target of Rs 5.46 lakh crore.
 
Incidentally, the deficit at the end of August was at the exact same level, which shows the finance ministry, after ‘front-loading’ of expenditure, has reined in spending and plans to do so further in the second half of 2017-18.
 
The deficit for April-October last year was 79.3 per cent of the 2016-17 full-year target. For April-September this year, it was 91.3 per cent.
 
Total expenditure