Fiscal deficit crosses full year budget target in 4 months

NEW DELHI: India's

fiscal deficit

in the four months to end July stood at Rs 8.21

lakh crore

($111.7 billion), or 103.1% of the

budgeted target

for the

current fiscal year

,

government data

showed on Monday.


Net tax receipts were Rs 2.03 lakh crore, while total expenditure was Rs 10.5 lakh crore, the data showed, indicating the government had stepped up its spending to combat the impact of the coronavirus.

The deficit is predicted to cross 7.5% of GDP in the 2020/21 fiscal year that began in April, private economists said, from initial government estimates of 3.5%, mainly due to a sharp economic contraction triggered by the

pandemic

.