'No capex cuts, govt may rejig revenue spend'
revenue expenditures while aiming to restrict its fiscal deficit within the target of 5.9% of gross domestic product (GDP), a senior official said.
As the finance ministry calls on departments to submit their statements of budget and expenditure trends by October 5, a significant part of the likely additional spending under select schemes in FY24 could be met through savings from some others and compression of certain less important revenue expenditures, the official indicated to ET.
«The central government wanted departments to front-load capital expenditure (capex) this fiscal to keep up its push for growth. There is no plan to cut capex.
States are also being encouraged to fully utilise their share of the Centre's budgeted capex outlay for FY24,» he added.
Of the ₹10 lakh crore capex outlay for FY24, the Centre has pledged ₹1.3 lakh crore as long-term, interest-free loans to states to boost their durable asset creation.
The Centre's fiscal deficit in the first four months of FY24 stood at 33.9% of the annual target, sharply higher than 20.5% a year before. Of course, the deficit until July is still way below the five-year average of 69%.
