The fiscal deficit stood at 9.3 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the last fiscal, better than 9.5 per cent projected in the revised estimates in the Union Budget in February. Economic activities were severely hit in the last financial year due to the coronavirus pandemic as well as subsequent lockdowns and restrictions to curb the spread of infections.
Releasing the revenue-expenditure data of the Union government for 2020-21, the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) on Monday said the revenue deficit at the end of the last fiscal was 7.42 per cent. In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit works out to be Rs 18,21,461 crore (provisional). As per the CGA data for fiscal 2020-21, the tax revenue collection was 105.9 per cent of the Revised Estimates (RE) presented in the budget.