Fiscal deficit till November has reached Rs 8.07 lakh crore, which is 114.8 per cent of the target of Rs 7.03 lakh crore for the fiscal, raising concerns on the extent of the slippage.

Aditi Nayar, principal economist, Icra warned of expenditure cuts to keep the deficit in lid. “Given the likely shortfall in tax collections and lack of clarity on the eventual magnitude of inflows from telecom license holders and disinvestment proceeds, expenditure cuts may have to be undertaken to prevent the fiscal deficit from rising too sharply in 2019-20,” she said.

“If the payments related to AGR dues are received by the government from various telecom and non-telecom entities within the 90 days stipulated by the Supreme Court, there could be a sizeable upside to the government’s non-tax revenues,” she said. The deficit was at 114.8 per cent of the budget estimate in the corresponding month a year ago.

The central government's total expenditure stood at Rs 18.20 lakh crore, which is 65.3 per cent of the budget target, while total receipt were Rs 10.12 lakh crore, which is 48.6 per cent of the target.

Besides, total expenditure for the period under review comprised Rs 16.06 lakh crore on the revenue account, while Rs 2.13 lakh crore was on capital expenditure. Total receipts comprised Rs 7.50 lakh crore of net tax revenue and Rs 2.32 lakh crore of non-tax revenue receipts.

Expenditure cut

Faced with a shortfall in revenue collections, the government has initiated austerity measures by revising downwards the expenditure limit for January-March period of the ongoing financial year.