The government’s earnings have been reduced due to the economic activities that have stopped due to the Corona infection. Because of this, the fiscal deficit is continuously increasing. The government now has to spend more to get the economy back on track. This is the reason why it is difficult to control the fiscal deficit.
Fiscal deficit crosses Rs 12 lakh crore
According to PTI news, the fiscal deficit of the central government reached Rs 12.34 lakh crore by the end of the current financial year (2020-21). This is about 66.8 percent of the revised budget estimate. In the last financial year 2019-20, by the end of January, the fiscal deficit had reached 128.5 per cent of the revised estimate. The figure was released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) on Friday. According to the data released by the CGA, by the end of the current financial year, by March 31, 2021, the fiscal deficit can reach 9.5 per cent of GDP, or about Rs 18.48 lakh crore. According to the CGA, the fiscal deficit till the end of January in the current financial year was Rs 12,34,004 crore.
Lockdown spoiled due to Corona
Last year, a lockdown was imposed across the country to prevent coronavirus infection. Due to this, there was a big impact on economic and business activities. Because of this, the revenue of the government decreased. The difference between the expenditure and revenue for the current fiscal year or the annual target of fiscal deficit was exceeded only in July 2020 last year. The government received Rs 12.83 lakh crore by January 2021, which is about 80 percent of the revised estimate. It has a tax revenue of 11.01 lakh crore.
In 2020-21, tax revenue collection was 82% of the revised estimate while in the previous fiscal year 2019-20, there was 66.3% tax revenue collection of revised estimate in the same period. Talking about non-tax revenue, it stood at 67 per cent of the revised estimate as compared to 73 per cent in the same period in the last financial year. According to CGA data, the total expenditure in the current financial year till January 2021 was 25.17 lakh crore, which is 73 per cent of the revision estimate. This figure was 84.1 percent in the last financial year.
