Fiscal deficit: Even the revised target seems out of reach for Modi govt

The Centre has overshot even the revised estimates (REs) of the fiscal deficit by 13.7 per cent for 2017-18 by January itself.

This means the government will have to cut expenditure to rein in the fiscal deficit at 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), and that was anyway higher than the 3.2 per cent in the Budget Estimates (BEs).

The government had revised its fiscal deficit to Rs 5,948.49 billion from the BE of Rs 5,465.31 billion. 

Meeting even that target seems difficult now unless the government applies brakes on expenditure, particularly capital expenditure.

If the government does