Low tax revenue, high spend push H1 fiscal deficit to 93% of FY20 target

The Centre’s fiscal deficit touched 92.6 per cent of the Budget Estimate (BE) in the first half of 2019-20, as tax revenues did not keep pace with the target and expenditure could not be compressed much.

Though the figure seemed alarming, it was bit lower than 95.3 per cent in the corresponding period of 2018-19. But then, there was fiscal slippage in FY19 when the fiscal deficit rose to 3.4 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) against the target of 3.3 per cent.

From that perspective, the Centre may still rein in the deficit at the targeted level of