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Govt to meet fiscal deficit target of 4.4% of GDP for year ending March 2026: Sitharaman
Nov-06-2025

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has exuded confidence that the government will meet the fiscal deficit target of 4.4 per cent of the GDP for the year ending March 2026. The Union Budget presented in Parliament in February by the Finance Minister had pegged the fiscal deficit at Rs 15.69 lakh crore, or 4.4 per cent, of the GDP in 2025-26 against 4.8 per cent in 2024-25.

She said ‘God willing and with every strength and support the Prime Minister gives me, we will be able to meet that fiscal deficit number...That's a commitment made in Parliament, and it's my duty to abide by it.’ The Centre's fiscal deficit stood at 36.5 per cent of the full-year target at the end of the first half of FY26, according to the latest data of the Controller General of Accounts (CGA).

Sitharaman further said that from now onwards, the government's focus will be on the debt-to-GDP ratio. The central government's debt is estimated at 56.1 per cent of the GDP in BE 2025-26, lower than 57.1 per cent of GDP in RE 2024-25. Besides, she added ‘It is important for us and for achieving Viksit Bharat, we need to consciously be on the path of reforming and bringing in prudential fiscal management. That's the responsibility of every finance minister.’

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