Increasing fiscal constraints

Govt must focus on mobilising more revenues

One of the criticisms of the Union Budget for 2021-22 has been inadequate spending to overcome the massive economic disruption following Covid-19. The increase in expenditure for the current year is largely because of transparent accounting of subsidies. According to the revised estimates, the fiscal deficit will expand to 9.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the current year, and is estimated at 6.8 per cent for FY22. Clearly, these are not small numbers and should be seen in the context of a significant rise in public debt, which is likely to settle at around 90 per cent