Budget 2024: Fiscal deficit target reduced to 4.9% with focus on consolidation

New Delhi: Presenting the Union Budget for 2024-25, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday pegged the fiscal deficit target at 4.9 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).
In the Interim Budget tabled on February 1, she pegged it at 5.1 per cent of GDP.
In 2023-24, the government pegged the fiscal deficit target for 2023-24 at 5.9 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). Later, the fiscal deficit for 2023-24 was downwardly revised to 5.8 per cent.
The difference between total revenue and total expenditure of the government is termed as the fiscal deficit.
It is an indication of the total borrowings that may be needed by the government.
The government intends to bring the fiscal deficit below 4.5 per cent of GDP by the financial year 2025-26.
"The fiscal consolidation path announced by me in 2021 has served our economy very well, and we aim to reach the deficit below 4.5 per cent next year," Sitharaman said.
"The government is committed to stay the course. From 2026-27 onwards our endeavor will be to keep fiscal deficit each year such that the central government's debt will be on a declining path as percentage of GDP," she added.