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During the Union Budget speech on Wednesday, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said the government's targeted fiscal deficit will be below 4.5 per cent by 2025-26 with a fairly steady decline over the period.
The fiscal deficit is estimated to be at 5.9 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) for 2023-24. A country's fiscal deficit is the difference between the total expenditure and revenue of the government in a year. The Minister said that the government has adhered to this path, and reiterated to bring the fiscal deficit below 4.5 per cent of GDP by 2025-26. Sitharaman said, "To finance the fiscal deficit in 2023-24, the net market borrowings from dated securities are estimated at Rs 11.8 lakh crore. The balance financing is expected to come from small savings and other sources. The gross market borrowings are estimated at Rs 15.4 lakh crore." During her speech, the Finance Minister projected the revised estimate for the FY23 fiscal deficit at 6.4 per cent. She also reiterated the Centre's commitment to bring fiscal deficit down to 4.5 per cent of GDP by FY26. The total gross market borrowing is estimated at Rs 15.43 lakh crore for FY24. For financing the FY24 fiscal deficit, the FM said net market borrowing of Rs 11.8 lakh crore balance financing is expected from small savings and other sources. The fiscal deficit or the gap between expenditure and revenue for 2022-23 is estimated to be Rs 16,61,196 crore. According to government data, the country's fiscal deficit was projected higher at 6.9 per cent for 2021-22, against 6.8 per cent estimated earlier. The Revised Estimates (RE) for 2021-22 indicated fiscal deficit of Rs 15,91,089 crore as against the Budget Estimates (BE) of Rs 15,06,812 crore. (ANI)
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