Centre on track to achieve fiscal deficit target of 6.4 pc for FY23: Sitharaman

“On the fiscal deficit, I have given a commitment, which was earlier given in the Budget and I repeat that. And the current situation also very clearly gives me the feeling that we will be able to comply with what we have said in the Budget,” she said.

The Finance Ministry said last week that the net direct tax collection grew 24.3 percent to Rs 8.77 trillion in the April-November period, reaching 62 percent of the FY23 target.

The government is likely to cross the full-year target of Rs 14.2 trillion without any difficulty.

She said the Centre is committed to reducing the fiscal deficit to a reasonable level by FY26 and a reduction in the fiscal deficit from 6.9 percent of GDP in FY22 to 6.4 percent in FY23 was very much in line with the government’s commitment to achieving the fiscal consolidation announced in the FY22 Budget.

Refuting claims by the Opposition that there was stagflation in the economy, Sitharaman said: “The latest data shows that the CPI (consumer price index) was at 5.88 per cent, and the WPI (wholesale price index) was at a 21-month low (at 5.85 percent). So inflation is within the band of the RBI (Reserve Bank of India). There is no slowdown. India is the fastest-growing economy. Stagflation is not true.”

Refuting claims by the Opposition that there was stagflation in the economy, Sitharaman said: “The latest data shows that the CPI (consumer price index) was at 5.88 percent, and the WPI (wholesale price index) was at a 21-month low (at 5.85 percent). So inflation is within the band of the RBI (Reserve Bank of India). There is no slowdown. India is the fastest-growing economy. Stagflation is not true.”

She referred to the latest India Development Update report of the World Bank to emphasise India is better placed than it has been in the past, and compared to its peers to manage external macro-financial shocks.