‘India may breach fiscal deficit target’

India is likely to breach its fiscal deficit target in the financial year to March 2022 mainly due to revenue shortfall, Fitch Solutions said on Friday. The government is targeting a deficit between revenue it earns and what it spends at 6.8% of the gross domestic product (GDP) in FY22. “We at Fitch Solutions forecast the Indian central government deficit to come in at 8.3% of GDP in FY22,” it said. ”Revenue shortfall remains the main driver of our wider deficit view, as we expect the government to maintain its spending targets.”Fitch Solutions had previously projected a fiscal deficit of 8%. “The main driver of our deficit forecast revision is a downward revision to our outlook for revenues, given that the flare-up in Covid-19 cases in India... will have a negative impact on fiscal revenues,” it said.