India's fiscal deficit reached Rs 7.1 lakh crore during the first five months of the 2026-27 financial year. Data from the Controller General of Accounts showed this hit 41.9 per cent of the full-year target. Government spending and the deficit both got higher compared to the same period a year earlier.

India's fiscal deficit reached Rs 7.10 lakh crore during the first five months of the financial year 2026-27, accounting for 41.9 per cent of the full-year target, according to data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) on Wednesday.

The fiscal deficit stood at Rs 7,10,249 crore between April and August 2026. The deficit was at 38.1 per cent of the Budget Estimate (BE) during the corresponding period of 2025-26.

The fiscal deficit represents the gap between the government's total expenditure and its receipts, excluding borrowings. For 2026-27, the Centre has budgeted a fiscal deficit of 4.3 per cent of GDP, or Rs 16.96 lakh crore.

The Centre's net tax revenue stood at around Rs 8.38 lakh crore by August 2026, equivalent to 29.2 per cent of the full-year Budget Estimate for 2026-27.

In the corresponding period of the previous financial year, net tax collections had reached 28.6 per cent of the annual target.

The Centre's total expenditure during April-August 2026 stood at approximately Rs 20.78 lakh crore, or 38.9 per cent of the full-year Budget Estimate.

Government spending during the same period last year had amounted to 37.1 per cent of the corresponding annual estimate.

The latest figures indicate that both government expenditure and fiscal deficit utilisation are higher, as a proportion of their respective annual targets, than during the same period a year earlier.