New Delhi, Mar 30 (PTI) The central government’s fiscal deficit stood at Rs 12.52 lakh crore at the end of February, or 80.4 per cent of the annual budget target for 2025-26 compared to 85.8 per cent in the year-ago period, according to government data released on Monday.
The Centre estimates the fiscal deficit (the gap between expenditure and revenue) during 2025-26 at 4.4 per cent of GDP, or Rs 15.58 lakh crore.
According to monthly accounts released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), the Centre’s total receipts stood at Rs 27.91 lakh crore, or 82 per cent of the budget target by February-end 2026.
The receipts included Rs 21.45 lakh crore tax revenue (net) and Rs 5.8 lakh crore non-tax revenue.
CGA said Rs 12.66 lakh crore was transferred to state governments as devolution of share of taxes by the Centre during the period, which is Rs 85,837 crore higher than the previous year.
CGA data showed that the central government’s total expenditure during April-February 2025-26 stood at Rs 40.44 lakh crore, or 81.5 per cent of the full financial year budget target.
Of the total expenditure, Rs 31.15 lakh crore was on revenue account and Rs 9.29 lakh crore was on capital account.
Out of the total revenue expenditure, Rs 10.65 lakh crore went towards interest payments and Rs 3.89 lakh crore towards major subsidies.
Commenting on the data, Aditi Nayar, ICRA chief economist said the Government of India’s fiscal deficit narrowed to Rs 12.5 lakh crore or 80.4 per cent of the 2025-26 revised budget estimates from Rs 13.5 lakh crore in the year ago period, led by a lower revenue deficit, even as capex was 15 per cent higher.
She also said the cut in excise duty on fuels is expected to result in a revenue loss of about Rs 1-1.2 lakh crore in FY2027, equivalent to about 30 basis points as a proportion of GDP.
However, this is likely to be partly offset by the amount allocated towards the Economic Stabilisation Fund (ESF), she said.
“Nevertheless, the West Asia crisis has complicated the GoI’s budget math for FY2027, raising material risks on the expenditure and revenue side, especially if the conflict persists for a prolonged period, keeping crude oil and natural gas prices elevated, beyond our current baseline forecasts,” Nayar added. PTI NKD NKD BAL BAL
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