Fiscal Deficit Crosses One-Third of Annual Target by August, Shows CGA Data

The fiscal deficit of the central government as on end-August stood at 38.1 percent of the target for the year. According to data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) on Tuesday, the fiscal deficit in the first five months of the previous financial year was 27 percent of the 2024-25 Budget Estimate (BE).

In actual numbers, the fiscal deficit, which is the gap between government spending and revenue, was ₹5,98,153 crore in April-August 2025-26. The Centre projects the fiscal deficit to be 4.4 percent of GDP, or ₹15.69 lakh crore, in 2025-26.

CGA figures indicated that the government had received ₹12.82 lakh crore (36.7 percent of the corresponding Budget Estimates 2025-26 total receipts) as of August 2025. The government received tax revenue (net to the Centre) of ₹8.1 lakh crore, non-tax revenue of ₹4.4 lakh crore, and non-debt capital receipts of ₹31,970 crore.

The CGA said that ₹5.3 lakh crore had been transferred to state governments by the central government as a share of tax devolution by August. This is ₹74,431 crore more than the previous year. The total expenditure of the Centre was ₹18.8 lakh crore (37.1 per cent of the corresponding budget estimate for 2025-26). Of this, ₹14.49 lakh crore was on the revenue account and ₹4.31 lakh crore on the capital account.

Of the total revenue expenditure, ₹5,28,668 crore was on account of interest payments and ₹1,50,377 crore on account of major subsidies. The CGA said that the fiscal deficit figure shown in the monthly accounts during a financial year is not necessarily indicative of the fiscal deficit for that year, as it is affected by temporary mismatches between the flow of non-debt receipts and expenditure for that month.