Hole at the centre of govt finances

Formal fiscal consolidation papers presented to Parliament are silent on India's primary deficit

The papers on the fiscal consolidation plan, presented in Parliament with the Budget documents, did not mention the primary deficit.

This was although the Economic Survey analysed it as an indicator of the government’s debt.

Primary deficit is the difference between fiscal deficit of the current year and interest payments on previous borrowings. It indicates how much of the government borrowings are going to meet expenses other than the interest payments.  

So, a zero primary deficit indicates interest commitments (on earlier loans) have taken all the borrowing.

Neither the medium-term fiscal policy statement or the fiscal policy strategy statement