NEW DELHI : Bibek Debroy, Chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, has said in an interview to Karan Thapar that the government will miss the fiscal deficit target of 3.3 per cent set in the Union Budget. Debroy said it's hard to say by how much it would be missed, but he made it clear that there was no doubt that the fiscal deficit target would be missed. Since the rate of growth of the economy was declining, and was less than what was envisaged when the Budget was announced, it automatically follows that the fiscal deficit will rise and the 3.3 per cent target will be breached, Debroy explained. Debroy said that he believed the overall growth in this financial year would be "around 6 per cent". Debroy also said that he believed the manner in which the Goods and Services Tax (GST) has been implemented was a major factor in the slowing down of the economy.

Source: Mint October 11, 2019 14:37 UTC