New Delhi : Fiscal deficit in the first seven months of the current fiscal reached Rs 4.11 lakh crore, or 74 per cent, of the Budget estimate (BE) for the whole year.
The fiscal situation in April-October showed improvement over the year ago period as the deficit then stood at 89.6 per cent of the Budget estimate of 2014-15. The fiscal deficit in Apr-Oct was 13.6% lower on year as gap continued to narrow year on year.
The fiscal deficit – gap between government’s expenditure and revenue – for 2015-16 has been pegged at Rs 5.55 lakh crore. This is the third consecutive month in which fiscal gap has narrowed on year. The fall in fiscal deficit is mainly due to jump in government receipts, especially net tax receipts in October.
As per the data released by the Controller General of Accounts, tax revenue came in at Rs 4.28 lakh crore, or 46.6 per cent, of the full year BE of Rs 9,19,842 crore.
Total receipts from revenue and non-debt capital of the government during the first seven months read Rs 6.10 lakh crore. The government estimates Rs 12.21 lakh crore receipts at end-March 2016.
The government is aiming a fiscal deficit of 3.9% of GDP in 2015-16 (Apr-Mar), a target the finance ministry has been saying is achievable on the back of strong tax collections. -Agencies
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Oct core sector growth at 3.2%
New Delhi : The growth rate of eight core sectors industries slowed to 3.2 per cent in October from a year earlier on account of a sharp drop in crude oil and steel production.
The eight core industries — coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity — with a total weight of nearly 38 per cent in IIP had grown at 9 per cent in the same month last year.
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