NEW DELHI: Presenting the Union Budget 2023, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday pegged the fiscal deficit target for 2023-24 at 5.9 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). The Finance Minister further said that the government intends to bring the fiscal deficit below 4.5 per cent of GDP by the financial year 2025-26.
Overall, the government proposed to increase capital expenditure outlay to Rs 10 lakh crore in 2023-24, which will be 3.3 per cent of the GDP, said Nirmala Sitharaman. “This (overall outlay) will be 3.3 per cent of GDP, almost three times the outlay made in 2019-20. With the substantial increase, it is central to the government’s efforts to enhance growth potential and job creation, the crowd in private investments and provides a cushion against global headwinds”, Nirmala said in her Budget speech.
She further told the Parliament that for the PM Awaas Yojana, the government proposed to raise allocation by 66 per cent to over Rs 79,000 crore. “Further, the proposed capital outlay of about Rs 2.40 lakh crore is being pegged for railways”, she said, adding that this budgeted outlay for the railways is the highest ever and nine times of what it was in 2013.
The government proposes to increase the agricultural credit target to Rs 20 lakh crore with a focus on animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries, Nirmala told Parliament. The agriculture sector has been growing at an average annual growth rate of 4.6 per cent in the last six years. The government will also launch a sub-scheme of the existing PM Matsya scheme to improve value chain efficiencies, she said. (ANI)