India's fiscal deficit between April and November 2018 was at Rs 7.17 trillion ($101.93 billion) or 114.8 percent of the budgeted target for the financial year 2018-19, as per government data released on Thursday. A fiscal deficit occurs when the total expenditure of a government exceeds the total revenue that it generates during a said period. In the April to November 2017 period, the fiscal deficit was recorded slightly lower at 112 percent.

The net receipts (revenue) of the Indian government in the 8-month period was Rs 7.32 trillion as per the data, that is just 49.4 percent of the estimates compared to 57 percent in the same time gap last year. Total expenditure was 66.1 percent of the budget estimate of Rs 24.42 lakh crore and Total receipts were at Rs 8.9 lakh crore, or 49.3 percent of estimates as against 54.2 percent for the same period in the last fiscal year. This goes to show that the expenditure has been on track while its the less than expected tax receipts that has caused the widening gap between the two.

In the April to October 2018 period, the fiscal deficit stood at Rs 6.49 trillion ($93.23 billion), that is 103.9 percent of the year's target. Experts say that the government is likely to miss its fiscal deficit target of 3.3 percent of the GDP (gross domestic product) this year or make up for it by announcing a cut in spending in the last quarter of 2018-19.