Meeting a target

The government's fiscal consolidation efforts may result in a squeeze on its capital expenditure

Will the Union government be able to meet its revised fiscal deficit target of 3.4 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) for 2018-19? Legitimate doubts have been expressed in view of the latest numbers released by the Controller General of Accounts for the first 10 months of the current financial year. 

According to these numbers, the fiscal deficit in the April-January period of 2018-19 has already risen to a level equivalent to 121 per cent of the revised estimates given in the interim Budget presented on February 1. This means that the fiscal deficit has already crossed Rs 7.71 trillion