Fiscal deficit lower at 5.7% in FY'12: CGA

New Delhi, PTI: The government's fiscal deficit during 2011-12 worked out to be 5.7 per cent of the GDP, lower than 5.9 per cent projected in the revised estimates in the Budget.

Fiscal deficit, the difference between the government's total receipts and expenditure, stood at Rs 5,097.31 billion in 2011-12, as per the provisional data released by Controller General of Accounts (CGA) today.

In Budget 2012-13, the government had revised the deficit to 5.9 per cent of the GDP, as against the earlier estimate of 4.6 per cent.

The Centre is aiming to bring it down to 5.1 per cent in the current fiscal. It is targeting to cut the subsidy bill to below 2 per cent of GDP this fiscal and 1.75 per cent in the subsequent years.

According to the CGA data, the total receipt stood at Rs 7,887.13 billion and the expenditure was Rs 12,984.44 billion in 2011-12.

The revenue deficit stood at Rs 3,847.22 billion in 2011-12, which is 4.3 per cent of the GDP.