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The Centre’s fiscal deficit at the end of the first half of FY26 stood at 36.5 per cent of the full-year target, according to data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) on Friday.

While this was higher than the fiscal deficit of the Budget Estimates (BE) of 2024-25 in the first six months of the previous financial year, which stood at 29 per cent, economists welcomed the widening of the government’s fiscal deficit, saying it had risen to ₹5,73,123 crore in the April-September period of 2025-26 on the back of a 40 per cent spike in capital expenditure.

The 37 per cent higher fiscal deficit in this fiscal year so far is in contrast to the ₹4.7 lakh crore fiscal deficit in the year-ago period.

 

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The Centre estimates the fiscal deficit during 2025-26 at 4.4 per cent of the GDP, or ₹15.69 lakh crore.

In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit, or gap between the government’s expenditure and revenue, was ₹5,73,123 crore in the April-September period of 2025-264.6 lakh crore of non-tax revenue and ₹34,770 crore of non-debt capital receipts.