Centre’s Fiscal Deficit Stands at 17.9 per Cent
It was at 8.4 percent of Budget Estimates (BE) of 2024-25 in the first three months of the previous financial year,” the data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) showed on Thursday.
New Delhi: The Centre’s fiscal deficit stood at 17.9 per cent of the full-year target at the end of June compared to 8.4 percent for the corresponding period a year ago. It was at 8.4 percent of Budget Estimates (BE) of 2024-25 in the first three months of the previous financial year,” the data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) showed on Thursday.
As the central bank had announced a transfer of Rs 2.69 lakh crore for FY25, a 27 percent higher than the previous year’s transfer of Rs 2.11 lakh crore, experts, however, believe that a higher-than-expected RBI dividend played a key role in containing the impact of increased capital expenditure during the quarter, along with reduced tax collection, which is expected to help keep the government’s fiscal deficit target of 4.4 percent.
In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit, or gap between the government's expenditure and revenue, was Rs 2,80,732 crore in the April-June period of the 2025-26 fiscal year. The Centre estimates the fiscal deficit during 2025-26 at 4.4 per cent of the GDP, or Rs 15.69 lakh crore.
According to the CGA, Centre's net tax revenue was Rs 5.4 lakh crore, or 19 per cent of corresponding BE 2025-26 of total receipts, up to June 2025. “In the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year, the net tax revenue was at 21.3 percent of that year's BE,” the CGA data showed.
The data also showed that the total expenditure during the first quarter was at Rs 12.22 lakh crore, or 24.1 percent of BE. “In the year-ago period, it was at 20.1 percent of BE,” it showed.