In 7 months, India's fiscal deficit hits 45 per cent of FY24 target

In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit between April and October this year stood at ₹8.03 lakh crore against ₹7.6 lakh crore a year ago. The government has pegged FY24 fiscal deficit at 5.9% of the GDP or ₹17.8 lakh crore. A 15% year-on-year decline in capital expenditure (capex) in October helped contain the fiscal deficit at the end of seven months. Capex expanded 33.7% in the April-October period, data showed.