Fiscal deficit stands at 17.9% of full-year target in Q1: CGA

New Delhi, July 31

The Central Government’s fiscal deficit stood at 17.9 per cent of the full-year target at the end of June, according to data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) on Thursday.

It was at 8.4 per cent of Budget Estimates (BE) of 2024-25 in the first three months of the previous financial year. In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit, or gap between the government’s expenditure and revenue, was Rs 2,80,732 crore in the April-June period of the 2025-26 fiscal year. The Centre estimates the fiscal deficit during 2025-26 at 4.4 per cent of the GDP, or Rs 15.69 lakh crore. According to the CGA, Centre’s net tax revenue was Rs 5.4 lakh crore or 19 per cent of corresponding BE 2025-26 of total receipts, up to June 2025.

In the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year, the net tax revenue was at 21.3 per cent of that year’s BE. The data on monthly accounts showed that the total expenditure during the first quarter was at Rs 12.22 lakh crore or 24.1 per cent of BE. In the year-ago period, it was at 20.1 per cent of BE.

Rupee recovers, trades at 87.66 against USD

The rupee recovered 14 paise from its all-time low to 87.66 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday on suspected intervention of the Reserve Bank of India after US President Donald Trump’s tariffs of 25 per cent and the penalty for buying Russian Crude and Arms.

Forex traders said the rupee, which plunged 89 paise, logging its steepest single-day fall in over three years, recovered some lost ground but was trading with a negative bias.

World