FinMin said it will monitor revenue and expenditure daily from March 15 to keep the budget deficit in check

Business

“As LIC IPO is likely to be postponed, Government. interested in taking timely corrective action against the deficit”

“As LIC IPO is likely to be postponed, Government. interested in taking timely corrective action against the deficit”

In order to keep the government deficit within the set targets, the Treasury will start daily monitoring of revenue, including tax revenue, as well as expenditure from March 15.

The move comes amid a possible postponement of LIC’s initial public offering (IPO), which is expected to raise more than ₹60,000 crore, to the next fiscal year amid the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine and its impact on Indian markets.

On the other hand, the government’s decision to bring back thousands of Indian students stranded in Ukraine will put an additional strain on the treasury.

According to officials, daily monitoring of tax and non-tax revenue collection will help the government take corrective measures in a timely manner.

“The CBDT and CBIC have been asked to report the flash numbers no later than 12 noon by the previous day. Also, other earnings excluding taxes and divestments would need to be reported daily,” the official told PTI.

Officials said the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) was asked to provide the Expenditure Secretary with daily revenue and expenditure figures from various departments between March 15 and March 31.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) are the lead bodies responsible for collecting direct and indirect taxes respectively.

The likely postponement of LIC’s IPO, together with any added burden of repatriating Indians stranded in Ukraine, will put pressure on the budget deficit, already in the revised estimates (RE) from an estimated 6.8% to 6.9% of GDP was raised earlier.

The government has collected 15.47 lakh crore in net tax revenue, which is 87.7% of the full budget target of 17.65 lakh crore.

Similarly, non-tax earnings through January were 2.91 lakh crore, or 92.9% of the RE target of 3.13 lakh crore.

However, the government has raised just ₹12,423 billion from divestments so far this fiscal year, against the revised target of 78,000 crore. It relied on LIC’s IPO to achieve the goal.

Total government expenditure to the end of January was ₹28.09 lakh crore, against the RE of 37.70 lakh crore for the full fiscal year.

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