While unveiling the data of the Union government for 2020-21, the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) on Monday said the fiscal deficit for 2020-21 was at 9.3 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is lower than the one estimated by the Finance Ministry in the revised Budget estimates. The data said that the revenue deficit at the end of the fiscal was 7.42 per cent.
The government in the revised Budget estimates for 2021-22 forecasted a higher fiscal deficit of 9.5 per cent of the GDP for the fiscal ended in March. The forecast was done on the basis of a rise in expenditure due to Covid-19 and moderation in revenue during this fiscal year.
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In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit works out to be Rs 18,21,461 crore.
The government had initially set the fiscal deficit at Rs 7.96 lakh crore or 3.5 per cent of the GDP in the budget presented in February 2020.
The fiscal deficit had soared to a high of 4.6 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2019-20, mainly due to poor revenue realisation.
