Fiscal deficit target ‘doable’, says FM

Finance minister P Chidambaram on Thursday said that restricting India’s fiscal deficit to 5.3% of GDP (gross domestic product) in the current fiscal was “doable”.

Finance minister P Chidambaram on Thursday said that restricting India’s fiscal deficit to 5.3% of GDP (gross domestic product) in the current fiscal was “doable”.

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“...in my considered view it is doable,” he said during Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha.

Despite the temporary deviation from stringent fiscal consolidation targets necessitated by the global financial crisis, the fiscal policy is being steered rapidly back to the path of prudence, said Chidambaram.

The government had originally targeted to bring fiscal deficit to 5.1% in the current fiscal year, but revised it to 5.3%. It was 5.9% in 2011-12.

Referring to the recently unveiled fiscal roadmap, Chidambaram said he was optimistic that “we can achieve this”.

According to the roadmap, the government plans to bring down fiscal deficit to 4.8% in the next fiscal year, 4.2% in 2014-15, 3.6% in 2015-16 and 3% in 2016-17.