P Chidambaram credits PM Modi govt’s good job in containing fiscal deficit

P Chidambaram credits
PM Modi govt’s good job in containing fiscal deficit

Whilst speaking at the India Today Conclave 2023,
former finance minister P.Chidambaram credited
PM Modi-led Government’s
efforts in containing the debt and fiscal deficit at a time of economic volatility.

Reportedly, the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) data last month projected the fiscal deficit at 67.8 per cent of the full-year target at the end of January owing to higher expenses and lower revenue realizations.

Notably, Chidambaram has presented nine union budgets under the UPA government.
Lot needs to be done in terms of developing the country.

Following the 2009-11 bitter experience, the former finance minister asserted that the lesson he learnt and the lesson he intends to inculcate is that our debts should be managed well and manage borrowing because that affects government spending, inflation, and impacts our ability to spend. He wishes to credit the present government for its single-minded focus on containing the deficit and debt management.

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

Fiscal deficit for laymen is the difference between the total revenue and total expenditure of the government. It is an indication of the total borrowings needed by the government.

The majority of the fiscal deficit is financed through internal market borrowings, with a small portion coming from securities against savings, provident funds, and external debt.

In the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, the fiscal deficit target for 2023-24 was projected at 5.9 per cent of the GDP.

For the current year ending March 2023, the deficit has been retained at 6.4 per cent of the GDP.
The government intends to bring the fiscal deficit below 4.5 per cent of the GDP by 2025-26.

As per the 2023 Union Budget, India’s external debt is only 1 per cent of the total fiscal deficit, which is estimated at
Rs 22,118 crore.

News Input K.V.Raman