India's FY24 fiscal deficit at 5.6% of GDP lower than estimated 5.8%

The central government's fiscal deficit stood at 5.6 percent of GDP in FY24, lower than the revised estimate of 5.8 percent.

Net tax receipts for FY24 were higher than projected, totalling Rs 23.27 lakh crore, which is 100.1 percent of the year's target.

Total expenditure amounted to Rs 44.43 lakh crore, or 99 percent of the targeted expenditure.

The government's capital spending on infrastructure projects was Rs 9.49 lakh crore.

The fiscal deficit for April this year was Rs 2.1 lakh crore, representing 12.5 percent of the full-year target.

India's Fiscal Deficit

While announcing the interim budget for this fiscal year, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reduced the fiscal deficit target to 5.8% of GDP from the earlier forecast of 5.9%.

Sitharaman also set the fiscal deficit target at 5.1% for the next fiscal year, with a goal of reducing the fiscal deficit to below 4.5% of GDP by 2025-26.

The lower fiscal deficit target for 2024-25 is based on expectations of robust tax collections and expenditure rationalization, with relatively lower spending on subsidies allowing for a reduced fiscal deficit.

In the fiscal year ending on March 31, 2024, New Delhi's fiscal prudence was bolstered by the Reserve Bank of India's transfer of Rs 87,416 crore as surplus to the central government.