India has initiated several measures to provide relief and financial support to various sectors of the COVID-19-hit economy, while at the same time, fiscal consolidation is also under focus, a finance ministry report said recently. Fiscal deficit for this fiscal has been estimated at ₹15,06,812 crore, which is 6.8 per cent of projected gross domestic product (GDP) of ₹2,22,87,379 crore.

The union budget had projected a fiscal deficit of 6.8 per cent of GDP for this fiscal ending in March 2022.

There has been a definite uptick in tax collections and government’s revenues till September and the gross tax revenue (GTR) at the end of September 2021 was ₹11,83,808 crore, it said.

India has initiated several measures to offer relief and financial support to various sectors of the COVID-19-hit economy, while at the same time, fiscal consolidation is also under focus, a finance ministry report said. Fiscal deficit for this fiscal has been estimated at ₹15,06,812 crore, which is 6.8 per cent of projected GDP of ₹2,22,87,379 crore.

Increasing the buoyancy of tax revenue through improved compliance, mobilisation of resources through monetisation of assets, improving efficiency and effectiveness of public expenditure etc. are the important measures directed towards this goal, the report said.  

The fiscal deficit of ₹5,26,851 crore in the first half of this fiscal was about 35 per cent of the budget estimate, it said. Lower fiscal deficit during H1 implies that the economy is, slowly but surely, getting back on the rails, the ministry report was quoted as saying by Indian media outlets.

Better fiscal results are expected with the increased momentum of the economic recovery in the second half the current financial year, it said.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)