India Government Finances - October 2016

Central Govt. Finances: Apr.-Oct 2016 ( FY 17)

Highlights:

• Total receipts during April- October 2016-17 were at Rs. 1150843 cr, 12.6% rise over the same period last year. It was 50.7% of BE 2016-17. Out of which revenue receipts were at Rs.697988 cr, 18.2% rise YoY and Capital receipts were at Rs.452855 cr, 5.1% higher than the last year.
• Gross tax receipt was at Rs.818884 cr, 18.0% growth YoY. Net tax revenue retained by the Central Government was at Rs. 530015 cr, 23.6% higher than the last year and it was 50.3% of the budget estimate for whole year.
• Recovery of loans were at Rs.7938 cr, 16.2% higher than the last year.
• Total Government expenditure from Consolidated Fund of India was at Rs.1150843 cr, out of which, revenue expenditure was at Rs.1025884 crore (59.2% of BE) and capital expenditure was at Rs. 124959 cr (50.6% of BE). The share of Plan expenditure and Non-Plan expenditure in total expenditure was 29.6% (341219 crore), and 70.3 % (809624 crore) respectively.
• Revenue Expenditure increased from the previous financial year by 16.8% and Capital Expenditure decreased by 12.8%.
• Revenue deficit was at Rs.327896, 14% higher than the last year and it was 92.6% of total budget estimate.
• Fiscal deficit was at Rs.423507 cr, 3% higher than the same period last year and it was at 79.3% of BE.
• Primary deficit was at Rs.196700 cr, 0.4% rise YoY.It was 477% of BE.

·         Eight core infrastructure industries grew by 6.6 per cent in October 2016, as compared to 3.8 per cent in October 2015. The growth of these industries during April-October 2016-17 was 4.9 per cent, as compared to 2.8 per cent during the corresponding period of previous year

·         Foreign exchange reserves stood at US$ 361.1 billion as at end-November 2016 as compared to US$ 360.2 billion at end March 2016.

·         The growth rate of IIP in Oct. 2016 was at (-) 1.9 per cent is due to negative growth in mining and capital goods sector. Also lower growth in manufacturing sector affected overall IIP growth. During Apr- Oct.16 the overall IIP contracted by 0.3 per cent s compared to growth of 4.8 per cent during same period last year.

·         Foreign trade: Merchandise exports and imports increased by 2.3 per cent and 10.4 per cent respectively in US$ terms in Nov. 2016 over Nov. 2015. During Nov. 2016, oil imports increased by 5.9 per cent and non-oil imports increased by 11.7 per cent respectively over Nov. 2015. During April-Nov. 2016, merchandise exports increased by 0.1 per cent and and imports declined by 8.4 per cent respectively.

·         Balance of Payments: The current account deficit (CAD) narrowed to US$ 3.7 billion (0.3 per cent of GDP) in H1 of 2016-17, significantly lower than US$ 14.7 billion (1.5 per cent of GDP) in H1 of 2015-16. Net invisibles’ earning was US$ 45.7 billion in H1 of 2016-17 as against US$ 56.7 billion H1 of the previous year.

·         External Debt: India’s external debt remains within manageable limits as indicated by the external debt-GDP ratio of 23.4 per cent at end-June 2016. India’s external debt stood at US$ 479.7 billion at end-June 2016, recording a decline of 1.1 per cent over the level at end-March 2016. Long-term debt was 397.6 billion at end-June 2016, as compared to US$ 401.7 billion at end-March 2016. Short-term external debt was US$ 82.1 billion at end-June 2016, as compared to US$ 83.4 billion at end-March 2016.

·         As per the estimates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the second quarter (July-September) 2016-17, released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on November 30, 2016, the growth rate of GDP in Q2 of 2016-17 was 7.3 per cent as compared to the growth of 7.6 per cent in Q2 of 2015-16 and 7.1 per cent in Q1 of 2016-17. The growth rate for the first half (H1) of the current year works out to 7.2 per cent as against a growth of 7.5 per cent in H1 of 2015-16.