(MENAFN- KNN India) New Delhi, May 10 (KNN) India's fiscal deficit for the financial year 2023-24 is expected to be slightly lower than the revised estimate (RE) of Rs 17.3 trillion or 5.84 per cent of GDP, according to government officials.
This positive outcome is attributed to lower-than-budgeted revenue expenditure and higher revenue receipts than the RE.
The government's capital expenditure target for FY24RE was met, while revenue expenditure fell short of the target due to savings under certain expenditure heads.
This was facilitated by the government's 'just-in-time' release concept, where funds are not released from the Consolidated Fund of India unless actual expenditure arises or previous instalments are fully spent, an official cited.
The Centre's finances were also bolstered by higher tax and non-tax receipts, such as dividends, than accounted for in the RE. An official stated, "The fiscal deficit may turn out to be a little lower than RE, both in terms of absolute amount and in terms of percentage of GDP as well."
In FY24RE, the government had increased the revenue expenditure outlay to Rs 35.4 trillion compared to the budget estimate (BE) of Rs 35 trillion.
However, the outlay for capital expenditure was lowered to Rs 9.5 trillion from the BE of Rs 10 trillion, as some departments could not fully spend their allocations.
The Centre's direct tax collections (after refund) exceeded the FY24RE by Rs 13,000 crore, reaching Rs 19.58 trillion. On the non-tax revenues front, the Centre's dividend receipts from central public sector enterprises surpassed the FY24 RE by Rs 13,750 crore or 27 per cent, totalling Rs 63,749 crore against the target of Rs 50,000 crore.
Looking ahead to the current financial year, officials stated that the Centre's expenditure so far has been in line with the plans outlined in the interim budget.
The government's cash position at the beginning of the year was comfortable, and it might consider additional buybacks of government securities to reduce interest expenditure if the cash situation warrants.
(KNN Bureau)
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