Govt likely to achieve fiscal deficit target of 5.9% of GDP in FY23-24: MoS Finance Bhagwat Karad

livemint.com:

₹8.04 lakh crore ($96.86 billion), or 45% of the estimate for the whole year. The government has collected ₹10,050 crore from selling stakes in government-run firms as of December 13, against its full-year target of ₹51,000 crore, Karad said in Parliament. “It is difficult to anticipate the quantum of actual proceeds from divestment during the current financial year 2023-24" because stake sales depend on factors including market conditions and investor appetite, said Karad.

For the full fiscal year 2023-24, the government has budgeted the fiscal deficit to be ₹17.86 lakh crore or 5.9% of the GDP. On December 12, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitahraman said in the Lok Sabha that the economy is moving in the right direction, and India has become the fastest-growing major economy in the world. Sitharaman said fiscal prudence is the top priority of the government without compromising on social welfare.

“Our economy is moving in the right direction... Macroeconomic fundamentals are fine. We have become the fastest-growing economy.

Q2 growth of 7.6 per cent is the highest in the world," she had said. On December 12, the Lok Sabha had cleared a net additional spending of ₹58,378 crore in the current fiscal ending March 2024, with a large chunk going towards the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme and subsidy on fertiliser. The gross additional spending sought by the government was over ₹1.29 lakh crore, of which ₹70,968 crore would be matched by savings and receipts.