Govt betters its fiscal deficit target to 4.8 pc this fiscal; pegs 4.4 pc for FY26

New Delhi, Feb 1 (PTI) Buoyed by improvement in revenue collection, the government has lowered its fiscal deficit target to 4.8 per cent of GDP for the current financial year against 4.9 per cent estimated earlier.

For the next financial, the fiscal deficit has been pegged at 4.4 per cent of the GDP.

Presenting the Budget 2025-26 in the Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharman on Saturday said, “Our endeavour will be to keep the fiscal deficit each year such that the Central Government debt remains on a declining path as a percentage of the GDP. The roadmap for the next 6 years has been detailed in the FRBM statement”.

The Revised Estimate of the total receipts other than borrowings is Rs 31.47 lakh crore, of which the net tax receipts are Rs 25.57 lakh crore, she said, adding that the Revised Estimate of the total expenditure is Rs 47.16 lakh crore, of which the capital expenditure is about Rs 10.18 lakh crore.

The Revised Estimate of the fiscal deficit is 4.8 per cent of GDP in FY25, she said.

For 2025-26, the fiscal deficit is estimated to be at 4.4 per cent of GDP. In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit has accordingly come down to Rs 15.69 lakh crore against Rs 15.70 lakh crore estimated earlier for the current financial year.

“To finance the fiscal deficit, the net market borrowings from dated securities are estimated at Rs 11.54 lakh crore. The balance financing is expected to come from small savings and other sources. The gross market borrowings are estimated at Rs 14.82 lakh crore,” she said.

The GDP for FY 2025-26 is estimated at Rs 3,56,97,923 crore, which is 10.1 per cent over the Revised Estimates for FY2024-25 of Rs 3,24,11,406 crore released by the National Statistical Office(NSO).