Fiscal deficit crosses 77% of budgeted target in first 4 months of FY20

The government's fiscal deficit touched Rs 5.47 trillion in the June quarter, which is 77.8 per cent of the budget estimate for 2019-20.
In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit or gap between expenditure and revenue was Rs 5,47,605 crore at July-end, as per the data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) on Friday.

The fiscal deficit stood at 86.5 per cent of 2018-19 budget estimate in the year-ago period.
ADVERTISEMENT

POWERED BY PLAYSTREAM

Supermoon - Ft. Russell Peters World Tour.
Pune | Ahmedabad | Hyderabad Oct 1st - Oct 6th
Book Now
The government estimates the fiscal deficit to be at Rs 7.03 trillion during 2019-20.
It aims to restrict the deficit at 3.4 per cent of the GDP in the current fiscal, same as the last fiscal.
The CGA data showed that revenue receipts of the government during April-July, 2019-20 remained unchanged at 19.5 per cent of the Budget Estimate (BE) compared to the corresponding period last year.
In absolute terms, revenue receipts stood at Rs 3.82 trillion at July-end 2019. During the entire year, the revenue receipts has been pegged at Rs 19.62 trillion.
The capital expenditure was 31.8 per cent of the BE. This compares with 37.1 per cent in the year-ago period, the CGA said.
Total expenditure during April-July period stood at Rs 9.47 trillion or 34 per cent of the BE. It was 36.4 per cent of BE in the corresponding period last fiscal.
The government has pegged its total expenditure during the fiscal ending March 2020 at Rs 27.86 trillion.
The CGA further said the fiscal deficit figure in monthly accounts during a financial year is not necessarily an indicator of fiscal deficit for the year.
Its data gets impacted by temporal mismatch between flow of not-debt receipts and expenditure up to that month on account of various transitional factors both on receipt and expenditure side, which may get substantially offset by the end of the financial year.

Fiscal deficit touches Rs 4.32 trillion in Q1, 61.4% of budget estimate

The government's fiscal deficit touched Rs 4.32 trillion for the June quarter, which is 61.4 per cent of the budget estimate for 2019-20 fiscal.
In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit, the gap between expenditure and revenue, was Rs 4.32 trillion at June-end as per data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) on Wednesday.

The fiscal deficit was 68.7 per cent of 2018-19 budget estimate in the year-ago period.
The government estimates the fiscal deficit to be at Rs 7.03 trillion during 2019-20. It aims to restrict the fiscal deficit at 3.4 per cent of the GDP in the current fiscal, same as the last financial year.
The CGA data showed that revenue receipts of the government during April-June, 2019-20 was 14.4 per cent of the Budget Estimate (BE). It was 15.5 per cent of BE in the year-ago period.
In absolute terms, revenue receipts stood at Rs 2.84 trillion at June-end 2019. During the entire year, the revenue receipts have been pegged at Rs 19.77 trillion.
The capital expenditure was 18.8 per cent of the BE. This compares with 29 per cent in the year-ago period, the CGA said.
Total expenditure during April-June period stood at Rs 7.21 trillion or 25.9 per cent of BE. It was 29 per cent of BE in the corresponding period last fiscal.
The government has pegged its total expenditure during the fiscal ending March 2020 at Rs 27.84 trillion.
The CAG said the fiscal deficit figure shown in monthly accounts during a financial year is not necessarily an indicator of fiscal deficit for the year as it gets impacted by temporal mismatch between flow of not-debt receipts and expenditure up to that month on account of various transitional factors both on receipt and expenditure side.

Infrastructure output growth hits seven-month high of 6.7% in June

Growth of eight core sectors expanded to 7-month high of 6.7 per cent in June due to better performance by cement, refinery and coal segments, as per official data released on Tuesday.
The eight sectors, which also include fertilisers, steel, natural gas, electricity and crude oil, had expanded by 1 per cent in June last year.

The previous high rate of growth was recorded in November 2017 at 6.9 per cent.
The growth rate in May was 4.3 per cent.
As per the data released by the commerce and industry ministry, the expansion in cement, refinery products and coal was 13.2 per cent, 12 per cent and 11.5 per cent respectively, year-on-year basis.
Crude oil and natural gas registered a negative growth of 3.4 per cent and 2.7 per cent respectively in June compared to the year-ago period.
The expansion in the electricity generation was 4 per cent in June compared to 2.2 per cent in the same month of the last fiscal.
ALSO READ: Gujarat may be losing its vibrancy in energy, infrastructure sectors
Steel sector, however witnessed a slower growth of 4.4 per cent compared to 6 per cent in June 2017.
The data revealed that expansion rate in the fertiliser segment was 1 per cent, better than negative growth recorded in the year ago month.
ALSO READ: R-Infra to close Rs 190 bn Mumbai power biz sale with Adani next week
During the April-June quarter of the current fiscal, the eight core industries recorded a growth of 5.2 per cent as against 2.5 per cent in the same period last year.
These eight core industries comprise 40.27 per cent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

Only 66% of 1.77 mn registered companies were active till June: Govt data

Nearly 66 per cent of 1.77 million companies registered in the country were active at the end of Juneofficial data showed amid the government continuing its clampdown on shell entities.
Latest data from the corporate affairs ministry showed that there were more than 1.18 million active companies as on June 30.

Generally, active companies are those carrying out normal business activities and make their statutory filings on time.
Intensifying the crackdown on illicit fund flows, the ministry struck off names of around 226,000 companies last fiscal, from the official records for not carrying out business activities for long. More such entities are under the scanner and are likely to face regulatory action.
Out of the total number of 1.77 million registered companies, 543,000 were closed as on June-end and 1,390 were classified as dormant.
ALSO READ: CBDT tells I-T dept to file all petitions before NCLT on shell firms by Aug
As many as 38,858 companies were in the process of being struck-off while 6,117 were under liquidation. Among those struck off, 103 companies were in the process of being re-activated, as per the data.
"There were 11,89,826 active companies as on June 30, 2018," the ministry said.
In terms of economic activities, 307,000 companies were into business services and 236,000 entities were engaged in manufacturing, among others.
ALSO READ: 30,000 'weeded out' in crackdown on shell companies can again be directors
Business services include information technology, research and development, law and consultancy.
The ministry said that Maharashtra has the highest number of companies (3,53,556), followed by Delhi (3,22,044) and West Bengal (1,97,823) as on June 30.
"Amongst 'active companies', Maharashtra has the maximum number of active companies (2,34,151), followed by Delhi (2,16,286) and West Bengal (1,34,336)," the ministry said in its latest monthly information bulletin.
More than 225,000 companies have been identified to be de-registered under the Companies Act, 2013, as part of measures against the black money and checking the menace of entities engaging in illegal activities, as per the ministry.