April-May fiscal deficit down as non-tax revenue grows

THE CUMULATIVE FISCAL DEFICIT AT 0.8% OF THE FULL-YEAR TARGET IS THE LOWEST LEVEL SINCE 1997

- Rhik Kundu [e-mail]

NEW DELHI: India's fiscal deficit staged a marked improvement in the first two months of 2025-26, helped by strong growth in non-tax revenue even as the government's capital expenditure spending increased.

The Union government reported a fiscal deficit of ₹13,163 crore for April-May, amounting to 0.8% of the target for the whole of 2025-26, according to data released Monday by the Controller General of Accounts. For the same period last year, the fiscal deficit was ₹50,615 crore.

India's cumulative fiscal deficit at 0.8% of the full-year target is the lowest level since the Centre began publishing monthly fiscal data in April 1997.