The fiscal deficit will overshoot to 3.5% from the earlier estimate of 3.2% in the current fiscal, ending March 31, finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Thursday.
The target has been fixed at 3.3% for 2018-19 as against the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act target of 3%.
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% in 2014-15 to 3.9% in the following year and further to 3.5% 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% by 2023 and fiscal deficit at 3 per cent for next 3 years.
(PTI)
