The fiscal deficit touched 67.8% of the full-fiscal target at the end of January due to higher expenses and lower revenue realisations.

In actual terms, the fiscal deficit or gap between the expenditure and revenue collection in the 10 months ended 31 January stood at Rs 11.9 lakh crore, as per the data from the Controller General of Accounts (CGA).

The fiscal deficit in the comparable period of 2021-22 was 58.9% of that year's Revised Estimate (RE) in the Budget.

For the full year 2022-23, the government expects the deficit at Rs 17.55 lakh crore or 6.4% of the GDP.

The CGA data showed that the net tax collection in the first 10 months of this fiscal was Rs 16,88,710 crore or 80.9% of the RE 2022-23.

In the comparable period last financial year, the collection stood at 87.7% of the RE 2021-22.

The central government's total expenditure was Rs 31.67 lakh crore or 75.7% of RE 2022-23.

In the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Lok Sabha on February 1, the fiscal deficit target for 2023-24 is 5.9% of the GDP.

For the current year ending March 2023, the deficit has been retained at 6.4% of the GDP. The government borrows from the market to finance its fiscal deficit.

The government intends to bring the fiscal deficit below 4.5% of the GDP by 2025-26

Aditi Nayar, the chief economist of Icra, said: “While there may be modest deviations from the revised estimates for direct taxes, divestment receipts and certain categories of expenditure, Icra does not expect the deficit to materially exceed the revised target of Rs 17.6 trillion for FY2023.”

“While fiscal concerns are limited, the apprehensions around further monetary tightening are likely to keep bond yields elevated in the near term. We expect the 10-year G-sec yield to trade between 7.35-7.5% in the next two months,” she added.