 "savings, investment, saving scheme")
The Finance Ministry is confident of achieving the collection target of small savings for the financial year 2023-24, government sources said. Till early February, the government had collected Rs 2.77 trillion in small savings as against the target of Rs 4.37 trillion.
The government has so far achieved about 64 per cent of the revised estimate for FY24. For the Senior Citizens' Savings Scheme, the collections till early February were around Rs 90,000 crore compared to Rs 37,362 crore in the corresponding period last year. The Mahila Samman Savings Certificate scheme has seen collections of Rs 19,000 crore so far this year.
The Monthly Savings Scheme has seen collections growing to Rs 20,000 crore till early February 2024. Small savings schemes are a list of 12 savings instruments, such as the National Savings Certificate, the Public Provident Fund, and the Kisan Vikas Patra, among others.
The government’s cash balance is not high too, as borrowings are complete, and it is carrying a modest cash balance to meet its commitments, government sources said.
The government funds its fiscal deficit through a mix of borrowings from the bond market, proceeds from small savings, and its cash balance. The fiscal glidepath announced by the government has set the fiscal deficit target at 5.8 per cent of GDP for FY24 and at 5.1 per cent of GDP for FY25.
As of February, the total capital expenditure of the government stood at 80 per cent of the FY24 revised target, sources said.
The capex budget allocation has risen from Rs 4.1 lakh crore in FY21 to Rs 11.1 lakh crore in FY25. In the Interim Budget tabled on February 1, the Centre increased the capex target by 16.9 per cent for the financial year 2024-25 (FY25) to Rs 11.1 trillion over the Revised Estimates for FY24.
