Union Budget 2015-16: Fiscal deficit pegged at 3.9%; to reach 3% by FY'18

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday pegged fiscal deficit for 2015-16 at 3.9 per cent of GDP and proposed to lower it to 3 per cent by 2017-18, a year later than planned earlier.

Unveiling the roadmap for fiscal consolidation while presenting the Budget 2015-16, he said the 3 per cent fiscal deficit target will now be achieved in three years as against the FRBM target of two years.

As per the earlier roadmap fiscal consolidation, the deficit was to come down to 3 per cent by 2016-17. The Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act will be amended accordingly, Jaitley said.

The additional fiscal space will be available for infrastructure funding, he said.

As per the new roadmap, fiscal deficit will be 3.9 per cent of GDP in 2015-16, 3.5 per cent in 2016-17 and 3 per cent by 2017-18.

As regard the current fiscal, Jaitley said the deficit will be 4.1 per cent as budgeted. "I will meet the challenging target of 4.1 per cent of GDP which we have inherited," he said, adding that the government remains firm on its 3 per cent fiscal deficit target.

The Economic Survey had on Friday said the government must adhere to the medium term fiscal deficit target of 3 per cent of the GDP. As regards the Current Account Deficit (CAD), Jaitley said it will be less than 1.3 per cent of GDP.