Govt’s fiscal deficit hits 94% of annual target in April-November

The government's fiscal deficit has shot up to Rs5,10,000 crore during the first half of the current fiscal (April-November 2013-14), or about 93.9 per cent of the full-year target, government data showed.

The government has already announced the schedule for sale of an additional Rs15,000 crore worth of bonds on 3 January 2014 and with government borrowings already above the annual target, the government's fiscal deficit could well touch 6 per cent of GDP by the year-end.

This includes the sale (re-issue) of the 8.12 per cent 2020 government stock for a notified amount of Rs4,000 crore, 8.24 per cent 2027 stock for a notified amount of Rs7,000 crore, 9.20 per cent 2030 stock for a notified amount of Rs2,000 crore and the 8.30 per cent 2042 stock for a notified amount of Rs2,000 crore.

The government is expected to have collected a net Rs3,96,000 crore in taxes in the first eight months of the current fiscal ending March 2014, while total expenditure of the government stood at Rs10,21,000 crore.