New Delhi: Fiscal deficit for 2020-21 was at 9.3% of the gross domestic product (GDP), lower than 9.5% estimated by the finance ministry in the revised Budget estimates, according to the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) data.Unveiling the revenue-expenditure data of the Union government for 2020-21, the CGA on Monday said that the revenue deficit at the end of the fiscal was 7.42%.

In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit works out to be Rs 18,21,461 crore.For this financial year, the government had initially pegged the fiscal deficit at Rs 7.96 lakh crore or 3.5% of the GDP in the budget presented in February 2020. 

The government in the revised estimates in the Budget for 2021-22 forecast a higher fiscal deficit of 9.5% of the GDP or Rs 18,48,655 crore for the fiscal ended in March due to a rise in expenditure on account of the outbreak of COVID-19 and moderation in revenue during this fiscal year.

Fiscal deficit had soared to a high of 4.6% of the GDP in 2019-20, mainly due to poor revenue realisation.