New Delhi, Nov 01: The government today put up a brave front against rising fiscal deficit saying it will remain at 5.6% of the GDP with improved revenue collection and expenditure under control. “Fiscal deficit is expected to be contained at 5.6% of the GDP and there is nothing that has happened to make me believe that fiscal deficit will overshoot the target”, chief economic advisor Ashok Lahiri said here.

Lahiri’s comments came a day after the figures released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) showed that the fiscal deficit rose by 40% in the first six months of the current fiscal to touch Rs 81,014 crore as compared to Rs 57,746 crore in the corresponding period last year.
The fiscal deficit in April-September this year amounted to 52.7% of the budget estimates of Rs 1,53,637 crore. In the first half of ’02-03, the fiscal deficit was 42.6% of the budget estimates. Overall revenue collections were expected to be more or less on track as the year proceeded, he said. Bureau Report