Mumbai: The government is set to meet annual fiscal targets with the fiscal deficit for April-October standing at Rs82,260 crore - equivalent to 54.5 of the annual target.
 
The government also expects the strong growth in direct tax collections to offset additional year-end spending. Tax receipts at Rs1,95,000 crore or 48.4 per cent of the annual target.

Total expenditure of the government stood at Rs3,69,000 crore until October, against total receipts of Rs2,87,000 crore, an official statement said.

Interest payments of the government alone accounted for Rs89,983 crore.

Meanwhile, the government has sought parliament`s approval to spend an additional Rs33,291 crore. Nearly half of the amount would be used to cover bonds issued to oil firms to partly compensate them for selling cheap fuel, and pay interest on market intervention bonds used to offset the adverse impact of large capital inflows.

The central government is also spending heavily to help exporters hit by a firm rupee, and to fund welfare schemes for the poor.

The government aims to limit its fiscal deficit at 3.3 per cent of gross domestic product in the year to March 2008, from 3.5 per cent the year before.

Meanwhile, India''''s economic growth slowed down to 8.9 per cent against the 10.2 per cent growth recorded in the corresponding period of the previous year and below a growth rate of 9.3 per cent achieved in the previous quarter (April-June''''07).

The economy slowed down to register 8.9 per cent growth during the second quarter of current financial year, down from 10.2 per cent in the comparable period of last year.

The sluggish performance of the manufacturing sector accounted for the slow down, according to the data released by the government.

Asia''''s third-largest economy, the Indian economy grew 9.4 per cent in the fiscal year that ended March 2007, its fastest rate in 18 years, and the Reserve Bank of India expects expansion to slow to 8.5 per cent this fiscal year.

Manufacturing sector grew at an annual 8.6 per cent in the July-September quarter, slower than 11.9 per cent in the previous April-June quarter.

Services grew at an annual pace of 10.2 per cent, while agriculture, which accounts for nearly 18 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP), grew 3.6 per cent, just
below the previous quarter''''s 3.8 per cent.

The stock market was steady on Friday, up 1 per cent and the rupee inched up to 39.68/69 per dollar while the yield on the benchmark 10-year bond stood at 7.90 per cent.

India, the world''''s fastest-growing major economy after China, has grown at an average 8.6 per cent in the past four years.