Fiscal deficit to overshoot to 3.5% from earlier estimate of 3.2% in FY'18

New Delhi: Unveiling the Union Budget 2018, finance minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday government's its fiscal deficit target for the year starting in April at 3.3 percent of gross domestic product implying that it will overshoot from the earlier estimate of 3.2 percent in the current fiscal, ending March 31.

The target has been fixed at 3.3 percent for 2018-19 as against the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act target of 3 percent.

Expressing the government's commitment to bring down the fiscal deficit, Jaitley said in his Budget speech that he has endeavoured to bring down the fiscal deficit from 4.1 percent in 2014-15 to 3.9 percent in the following year and further to 3.5 percent in 2016-17.

Fiscal deficit has a bearing on sovereign rating of the country as well as the debt market.

FRBM Review Panel headed by former Revenue Secretary N K Singh had recommended debt to GDP ratio of 60 percent by 2023 and fiscal deficit at 3 percent for next 3 years.