Government to meet fiscal, revenue deficit targets
Bangalore: Finance Minister P Chidambaram despite the 'front-loading' of expenditure that was bringing in higher deficit numbers in the first quarter, the government would meet fiscal and revenue deficit targets for the financial year.

He said the expenditure was being front-loaded because there are two major programmes, where 50 per cent of the funds to be devolved to states are given in the month of April.

According to the finance ministry's Quarterly Review of Government finances tabled in Parliament on Friday, the gross fiscal deficit during April-June 2006, at Rs77,740 crore, was 42.6 per cent higher than the Rs54,517 crore in the same period in the previous fiscal.

Revenue deficit was Rs70,675 crore compared to Rs47,311 crore last year and the primary deficit Rs48,126 crore compared to Rs28,089 crore last year.
Back to News Review index page