On the back of expenditure management and possible use of small savings the government has met the revised fiscal deficit target of 3.4 percent for FY19, said sources familiar with the matter. However, the fiscal and revenue numbers are yet to be finalised, the sources added.
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The budgeted fiscal deficit target was 3.3 percent of GDP at the beginning of 2018-19 and was later revised to 3.4 percent of GDP in the interim budget, mainly because of an expectation of higher payout on basis of the direct income scheme for farmers.
On meeting the target, Upasna Bhardwaj, senior economist, Kotak Mahindra Bank said, "If the shortfall is only Rs 30,000 crore then we did see there was scope for cutting capital expenditure or postponing it to the next year, which could have led to meeting the targets because about Rs 40,000 crore was the scope for cutting the capital expenditure. If that is how it is then it is possible to have met 3.4 percent target.”
Last week, that there was a big gap between the direct tax collection and the target numbers but the government seems to have collected the shortfall in the last few days, said Bhardwaj.
Meeting the target provides a sigh of relief to bond markets because going ahead they are already burdened with oversupply and if there would have been news on slippage then it would have taken it negatively by them when it opens on Tuesday, she added.