The Controller General of Accounts’ (CGA) revenue-expenditure data of the Union government for FY21 reported India’s fiscal deficit for FY21 at 9.3 percent / Rs 18.21 lakh crore of the gross domestic product (GDP), which is about Rs 27,194 crore lower than the Finance Ministry’s revised estimation(RE) of 9.5 percent.
Revised Fiscal deficit target:
In the February 2020, the government set the fiscal deficit at Rs 7.96 lakh crore or 3.5 percent of the GDP but later due to COVID-19, in February 2021, it revised the fiscal deficit target to 9.5 percent of GDP/ Rs 18,48,655 crore for FY21.
Key points over the CGA Report:
i.CGA reported the revenue deficit for FY21 at 7.42 percent/Rs 16.32 trillion.
ii.Receipts: The government’s revenue receipts at FY21 stood at Rs 16.32 trillion, about 5 percent higher than RE (Rs 15.55 trillion). Net tax receipts was reported as Rs 14.24 lakh crore and the Revenue from excise duty was Rs 3.89 trillion (63 per cent year on year growth).
ii.Expenditure: The total expenditure for FY21 was Rs 35.11 trillion, 1.8 percent higher than the RE of Rs 34.50 trillion. The capital expenditure was reduced by Rs 13,568 crore to Rs 4.24 trillion. The Revenue expenditure was about Rs 30.86 trillion, 2.5 percent higher than RE.
iii.April 2021: As per CGA data for the month of April 2021, the total expenditure was Rs 2.26 trillion as against Rs 3.07 trillion in April 2020, the capital expenditure was Rs 47,126 crore and total receipts were at Rs 1.48 trillion.
About Fiscal Deficit:
i.It is the excess of total spending from the Consolidated Fund of India (excluding repayment of the debt) over total receipts into the Fund (excluding the debt receipts) during a financial year.
ii.Note – Fiscal Deficit = Total expenditure of the government (capital and revenue expenditure) – Total income of the government (Revenue receipts + recovery of loans + other receipts).
Recent Related News:
Based on the data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) on March 31, 2021, the fiscal deficit for the 11months of FY 2020-21(April – February) stood at Rs 14.05 lakh crore which is about 76% of the revised estimates(RE)and for FY 2019-20 the deficit was about 135.2% of RE.
About Controller General of Accounts (CGA):
i.CGA is in the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance is the Principal Accounting Adviser to the Government of India.
ii.The Annual Appropriation Accounts (Civil) and Union Finance Accounts are submitted by CGA to Parliament under Article 150 of the Constitution.
iii.It has the responsibility to Disburse the Pension through Public Sector Banks (PSBs) in respect of Central Civil Pensioners, Freedom Fighters, High Court Judges, Ex-M.P. s and Ex-Presidents.
iv.Current CGA – Smt. Soma Roy Burman (24th CGA, from December 1, 2019)
