NEW DELHI- India’s federal fiscal deficit in April-November, the first eight months of current fiscal year, narrowed to 46.2 percent of the full-year budgeted target, helped by a rise in tax collections, government data showed.
The fiscal deficit had surged to 135.1 percent of the full-year target during the same period last fiscal year.
The fiscal deficit for eight months ending November stood at 6.96 trillion rupees ($93.7 billion) against 15.07 trillion rupees target for the whole fiscal year, the data showed.
In April-November, net tax receipts were 11.35 trillion rupees while total expenditure was 20.75 trillion rupees, the data showed.
India grew at the fastest pace of any major economy in the July-September quarter but economists said disruptions from the emerging Omicron coronavirus variant risked slowing the recovery, especially given India’s low vaccination rates.
Asia’s third-largest economy has rebounded strongly from last year’s deep pandemic-induced slump, boosted by vaccinations and stronger government spending, economists said. But new COVID-19 variants, a global slowdown and rising manufacturing prices all pose risks to growth.
