Chennai: The government is close to meeting fiscal deficit target of 3.4 per cent for 2018-19, a top official from the Finance Ministry has said.
The government had in the budget in February revised upward the fiscal deficit target to 3.4 per cent from 3.3 per cent of GDP estimated earlier for the financial year ended 31 March.
Finance Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg on Thursday said the government is close to meeting the revised target of 3.4 per cent.
“We are very close to meeting (fiscal deficit),’ he said. ‘Some numbers are still to come. So, we will wait for a couple of days. There will always be some shortfall but sum and substance of that is what is the net impact on the deficit,” he added.
The government at many occasions had indicated that there might be some shortfall on indirect taxes collection side during 2018-19 but not on the direct tax front. Direct tax collection was revised upward to Rs 12 lakh crore.
The government had originally budgeted to collect Rs 11.50 lakh crore in 2018-19 from direct taxes, which included corporate tax and personal income tax.
Likewise, in 2018-19, GST collection is pegged at Rs 6.43 lakh crore (Revised Estimate), which is lower than the targeted Rs 7.43 lakh crore (Budget Estimate).
On the indirect tax front, customs collection in 2018-19 is pegged at Rs 1.30 lakh crore (RE).
Garg, speaking at a CII event, said the financial sector in India has to be cognizant of the changes that are happening in the different elements of the economy. He outlined three main areas that need investment, these areas being infrastructure, digital economy and circular economy.
Garg also said the infrastructure sector in particular needs more investment and the country needs the top global government pools of sovereign and pension funds to invest here.
Digital infrastructure requires non-traditional sources of finance such as private equity and venture capital funds, he stated.
| New govt will announce |
| Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu has said the proposed new industrial policy has been finalised and the new government would announce that.
“We have finalised the industry policy. I am sure that the new government will announce that soon,” Prabhu said. Though the Ministry has sent the final proposal of the policy to the Cabinet, it was not taken up for consideration. It aims at promoting emerging sectors and modernising existing industries. It will also look to reduce regulatory hurdles, cut paper work and support emerging and new sectors. The Ministry has planned to set up an elaborate machinery including a steering committee for effective implementation of the policy. This will be the third industrial policy after the ones released in 1956 and 1991. It will replace the industrial policy of 1991 which was prepared in the backdrop of the balance of payment crisis. |
| Urban sector is key |
| Finance Commission Chairman N K Singh said the urban sector will play an important role in achieving double-digit growth for the country. He also said the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Committee 2017 has suggested bringing down the debt-to-GDP ratio to 60 per cent by 2024-25.
“There is no doubt that an important engine of growth for much faster development of this country will have to come from the urban sector,” he said. The FRBM committee, which was headed by Singh, also recommended that the states should bring down their debt-to-GDP ratio to 20 per cent by the same period. Central government debt is estimated at 48.9 per cent as a percentage of GDP for 2018-19. It is expected that Central government liabilities will come down to 47.3 per cent of GDP this fiscal, as per Budget 2019-20. The outstanding liabilities of the State governments stand at 23.4 per cent of GSDP at end-March 2017, with a range of 46.3 per cent in Punjab and 15.1 per cent in Chhattisgarh, as per an RBI study on state budgets. |