Apr-July fiscal gap touches 26.8% of full-year target

New Delhi: The Centre's fiscal deficit in April-July of FY27 was ₹4.55 lakh crore or 26.8% of the Budget Estimate for the full financial year, and 2.77% lower than ₹4.68 lakh crore in the year-ago period, official data released Monday showed.

The fiscal deficit was down 21.5% on year at ₹1.47 lakh crore in July owing to higher growth in total receipts compared to total expenditure, indicating stable fiscal position amid the ongoing West Asia crisis.

The Centre has set a fiscal deficit target of 4.3% of the gross domestic product (GDP) or ₹16.96 lakh crore for the current fiscal.


Spending on major subsidies was ₹1.54 lakh crore by July, or 37% of the ₹4.11 lakh crore budgeted for FY27.

This was higher than the 30% utilisation recorded in the corresponding period of the previous year. "The moderation was entirely driven by a sharp narrowing in the revenue deficit even as capex surged by almost 30% during this period," said Aditi Nayar, chief economist, ICRA.

As per the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) data, the Centre's net tax revenue was about ₹8.45 lakh crore, or 29.5% of the corresponding budget estimate of 2026-27 of total receipts, up to July 2026.

Total expenditure reached ₹17.62 lakh crore by July, equivalent to 32.9% of the full-year budget estimate, while total receipts were ₹13.07 lakh crore, or 35.8% of the annual estimate.

The data showed that capex emerged as one of the key components of spending during the first four months of FY27. The Centre spent ₹4.51 lakh crore on capital expenditure, against a full-year budget allocation of ₹12.22 lakh crore, representing 36.9% of the annual allocation, compared with 30.9% in the year ago period.

Loans worth ₹1.26 lakh crore were disbursed during the period while interest payments amounted to ₹4.27 lakh crore, according to the CGA data.