05.11.202503:37:54UTC+00India on Track to Meet 4.4% Fiscal Deficit in FY 2025/26

India's Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, has expressed confidence that the government will meet its fiscal deficit target for the financial year 2025/26, set at 4.4% of GDP, by March 2026. As reported by The Economic Times, this projection was detailed in the Union Budget she presented in February, where the fiscal deficit was estimated at INR 15.69 trillion, or 4.4% of GDP for 2025-26, a decrease from the 4.8% anticipated in 2024-25. The achievement of this reduced fiscal deficit target is anticipated to be bolstered by robust tax revenues. According to the revised Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act, the government is obligated to reduce the fiscal deficit to below 4.5% by the 2025-26 fiscal year. Recent data revealed that the Indian central government recorded a budget deficit of INR 5.73 trillion in the first half of the 2026 fiscal year, which constitutes 36.5% of the annual projection, compared to INR 4.75 trillion during the same period the previous year. Nevertheless, this figure marks a decrease from INR 5.98 trillion documented in the first five months of the fiscal year.