India's April-July fiscal deficit at 26.8% of FY27 target

India's fiscal deficit for the first four months of the 2026-27 financial year reached 26.8 percent of the full-year target, according to government data released on Monday, August 31, 2026. The deficit, which measures the gap between government expenditure and revenue, stood at Rs 4,55,144 crore for the April-July period. This represents an improvement from the 29.9 percent of the budget estimate recorded during the same period in the previous fiscal year. The data, published by the Controller General of Accounts, shows the government is tracking ahead of its fiscal consolidation plan. The Union Budget for the current financial year, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, set a fiscal deficit target of 4.3 percent of GDP, or Rs 16.96 lakh crore. The current pace suggests the government is on course to meet this goal, assuming expenditure and revenue trends continue. The improvement is driven by a combination of higher revenue collection and controlled spending. Net tax revenue for the April-July period was approximately Rs 8.45 lakh crore, which is 29.5 percent of the full-year budget estimate. This is a significant increase from the 23.