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The Controller General of Accounts released the Union Government's monthly accounts for April-July 2026 on 31 August 2026.
Total receipts reached Rs 13,06,709 crore, or 35.8% of the FY27 Budget Estimate, while total expenditure was Rs 17,61,853 crore, or 32.9% of BE.
The resulting fiscal deficit of Rs 4,55,144 crore is 26.8% of the full-year target of Rs 16.96 lakh crore, itself pegged at 4.3% of GDP.
Interest payments alone absorbed Rs 4,26,566 crore and subsidies Rs 1,53,513 crore of the Rs 13,11,218 crore revenue expenditure.
Tax devolution to the States was Rs 3,72,354 crore, Rs 56,190 crore lower than in the same four months of the previous year.
Fiscal deficit is total expenditure minus total receipts excluding borrowings - that is, the gap the government must fill by borrowing. It is why the two headline figures here subtract exactly to it: Rs 17,61,853 crore of expenditure less Rs 13,06,709 crore of receipts leaves Rs 4,55,144 crore. Note which receipts count: net tax revenue, non-tax revenue such as dividends and spectrum fees, and non-debt capital receipts such as disinvestment and loan recoveries. Borrowings are excluded because they are the thing being measured. The percentages matter as much as the rupee figures, because a deficit at 26.8% of the year's target after four months - a third of the year - indicates front-loaded receipts rather than fiscal slippage.
Simple Analogy: Think of a household four months into the year: it has taken in about a third of its expected annual income but the shortfall it has had to borrow is only about a quarter of what it had budgeted to borrow for the whole year - so it is running slightly ahead of plan, not behind it.
The principal accounts adviser to the Union Government; compiles and publishes the monthly and annual accounts of the Centre
Audits those accounts - a distinct constitutional function; the form in which accounts are kept is prescribed by the President on the CAG's advice under Article 150
Recommended the sharing of central taxes with States for the 2026-31 award period; the Centre accepted retention of the States' 41% share of the divisible pool
GS Paper 3 > Indian Economy > Government Budgeting; GS Paper 2 > Constitutional Bodies and Fiscal Federalism
General Awareness > Indian Economy > Budget and Fiscal Data
General Awareness > Economy > Budget and Deficits
General Awareness > Current Events > Economy
Consider the following statements: 1. Tax revenue as a percent of GDP of India has steadily increased in the last decade. 2. Fiscal deficit as a percent of GDP of India has steadily increased in the last decade. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer: Neither 1 nor 2
Total expenditure minus total receipts excluding borrowings; the amount the government must borrow
Spending that does not create assets - salaries, interest, subsidies and grants
Spending that creates assets or reduces liabilities, such as infrastructure and loan repayment of principal
Capital receipts that do not add to debt, chiefly disinvestment proceeds and recovery of loans
The States' share of the Centre's divisible pool of taxes, transferred as per the Finance Commission's recommendation
The part of central tax revenue shareable with the States, excluding cesses, surcharges and cost of collection