Economists urge FM Sitharaman to set realistic fiscal deficit target

The economists also said the tax revenue targets for 2019-20 were unrealistic and should be revised to more achievable levels

The government should come up with a realistic, achievable fiscal deficit target that can be achieved without resorting to off-budget financing, and should release a comprehensive working paper on the methodology of gross domestic product data and other economic indicators to quell the issues of credibility around official statistics.

These were some of the suggestions given by economists and policy experts who met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and senior ministry officials for pre-Budget consultations on Friday evening, Business Standard has learnt.

The economists also said the tax revenue targets for 2019-20 were unrealistic and should be revised to more achievable