The fiscal deficit of the Centre as a proportion of GDP came down from 5.9% in 2002-03 to 3.4% in 2006-07. The deficit is estimated to further decline to 3.3% in 2007-08 (BE). This was stated in the Economic Survey 2007-08 presented in Parliament today by the Finance Minister, Shri P. Chidambaram.
The revenue deficit also declined from 4.4% in 2002-03 to 1.9% in 2006-07 and is estimated to further decline to 1.5% in 2007-08 (BE). The revenue deficit as a percentage of fiscal deficit has declined from 79.7% in 2003-04 to 56.3% in 2006-07 and it is further estimated to improve to 47.4% in 2007-08 (BE) implying a progressively better utilization of borrowed resources towards asset creation.