India's budgetary fiscal deficit for the April-July 2020-21 period stood at Rs 8.21 lakh crore, or 103.1% of the budget estimates (BE).
The 2020-21 deficit -- the difference between revenue and expenditure -- has been pegged at Rs 7.96 lakh crore, as compared to the revised deficit of Rs 7.66 lakh crore for the last fiscal.
The Central government's total expenditure stood at Rs 10.5 lakh crore (34.7% of BE) while total receipts were Rs 2.32 lakh crore (10.4% of BE).
As per the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) data released on Monday, the fiscal deficit during the corresponding months of the previous fiscal was 77.8% of that year's target.
According to ICRA's Principal Economist Aditi Nayar: "With the localised lockdowns arresting the recovery in many sectors, the pace of the contraction in the GoI's gross tax revenues recorded only a subdued improvement to 20% in July 2020 from 23% in June 2020, which was led by excise duty, income tax and customs duty."
"In particular, excise collections expanded by a sharp 82% in July 2020, benefitting from the higher rates of cess amid mixed improvement in fuel usage. The improvement in customs duty may be linked to the revival in gold imports."
Meanwhile, the Covid-19 pandemic-induced economic turbulence, along with measures to curb its outbreak, heavily dented India's economy and plunged the country's GDP by (-) 23.9% during the first quarter (Q1) ended June 2020-21 on a year-on-year basis.
According to the National Statistical Office (NSO), the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at 'Constant (2011-12) Prices' in Q1 of 2020-21 is estimated at Rs 26.90 lakh crore, as against Rs 35.35 lakh crore in Q1 of 2019-20, showing a decline of 23.9%.
In financial parlance, a GDP contraction not only indicates the economy's movement towards a recession, but also underlines the reduction in purchasing power along with lower taxes for the government, higher defaults on debt and falling capex spends.