India's April-Dec Fiscal Deficit Reaches 145% Of Full Year Target

India's fiscal deficit in the first nine months of the financial year 2020-21 stood at Rs 11.58 trillion ($158.74 billion), or 145.5% of the budgeted target for the whole year, as per government data released on Friday.

It further showed that the net tax receipts were Rs 9.62 trillion, while total expenditure was Rs 22.8 trillion.

As per the Economic Survey report tabled by the Finance Minister at the parliament on Friday, India's fiscal deficit is projected to overshoot the initial estimates of 3.5% of GDP, in the current financial year ending in March 2021.

"In order to sustain the recovery in aggregate demand, the government may have to continue with an expansionary fiscal stance," the report said, adding the growth recovery would facilitate buoyant revenue collections in the medium term and enable a sustainable fiscal path.

The survey, which comes ahead of the Union Budget for the upcoming fiscal year, has also forecast a "V-shaped" economic recovery for India.