Little option for govt other than amending FRBM Act to widen fiscal deficit

It has already exhausted the escape clause, which allows for a maximum deviation of 0.5% from consolidation road map

The government may have to amend the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act once more to enable it widen fiscal deficit beyond the permissible limit under the present legislation.

The latest budget used the escape clause to the maximum to widen the Centre's fiscal deficit by 0.5 percentage points beyond the fiscal consolidation road map for 2019-20 and 2020-21.

The Budget Estimates had pegged the deficit at 3.3 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) for 2019-20, but the Revised Estimates (RE) projected it to be 3.8 per cent.

Similarly, the Budget Estimates put the deficit at 3.5 per cent