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The government has crossed 50 per cent of its budgeted target for capital expenditure, or the Rs 5-lakh-crore mark, so far in the ongoing financial year 2023-24, a senior government official said Monday, adding that overall trends in revenue and spending were along expected lines and the Centre should be able to meet its stated fiscal deficit target of 5.9 per cent of the gross domestic product.
“There is not much worry on the tax part. Overall receipts are fine and are expected to meet the budget target. As on date, receipts seem to be going as predicted. Expenditures are also as predicted. So, let me say that I don’t have any reasons to believe that we would not be meeting it (2023-24 fiscal deficit target), based on the information available to us now,” the official said, adding that the government is looking to maintain its glide path for fiscal consolidation.
The finance ministry is in the process of holding pre-budget discussions with various ministries. Additional demand is expected to come in from some of the key government schemes such as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and expenditure on fuel and fertiliser subsidies amid global geopolitical tensions.
“Additional demands for MNREGS would be considered within the limits of prudence,” the official said.
On the recent spike in government bond yields amid the sharp rise in US Treasury yields and fresh geopolitical tensions, the government official said it is “not much of a concern right now”.
“We are watching things…if they go beyond tolerance levels, we will take appropriate remedial measures. So far, we are fine with it,” the officials said.
The government had budgeted Rs 10 lakh crore target for capital expenditure for the current fiscal, an increase of 36 per cent over the previous financial year. As per Controller General of Accounts (CGA) data, the government’s capital expenditure stood at Rs 7.36 lakh crore 2022-23 against the budget target of Rs 7.5 lakh crore and revised estimate of Rs 7.28 lakh crore. The government’s fiscal deficit stood at Rs 6.43 lakh crore in April-August, or 36 percent of the full-year target, as per the latest data by CGA.
