Centre’s fiscal deficit 62% of full year’s target by end-November, higher than last year

The Centre’s fiscal deficit at the end of November 2025 stood at ₹9.77 lakh crore, which is 62.3% of the amount budgeted for the full financial year 2025-26. Last year, at the same time, the fiscal deficit had stood at 52.5% of the budgeted amount.

The reason for this widening of the fiscal deficit at this point of time is because capital expenditure has grown significantly in the April-November 2025 period, while tax revenues have lagged.

The Centre’s capital expenditure stood at ₹6.58 lakh crore in the April-November 2025 period, 28% higher than in the same period of the previous year. Revenue expenditure, on the other hand, stood at ₹19.1 lakh crore in the first eight months of this financial year, 2.1% higher than in the same period last year.

Overall, the faster capital expenditure and relatively slower growth in revenue expenditure balanced each other out so that total expenditure, at ₹29.26 lakh crore at the end of November 2025, was 57.8% of the budgeted target for the full year, as compared to 56.9% at the same point in the previous year. 

On the revenue front, total tax revenue stood at ₹13.9 lakh crore at the end of November 2025, 3.4% lower than in the same period of 2024-25. Non-tax revenue, however, was almost 21% higher during the same period.

“The issue has been more on the tax front where tax revenue has been lower at 49% of budgeted amount compared with 56% last year,” Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at the Bank of Baroda said. “The impact of GST [rate cuts] is hence visible here. There would be some reversal especially on the direct taxation front in December when advance tax payments were made especially by corporates. The lower GST collections is also getting reflected in the monthly data released on the tax.”

Total receipts stood at ₹19.49 lakh crore at the end of November 2025, 55.7% of the full year’s budget compared to 59.1% at the end of November 2024.