CHICAGO: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that the central government has adhered to its fiscal consolidation roadmap and successfully achieved its fiscal deficit targets set for the 2025-26 period.
India’s fiscal deficit stood at 4.4 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) for the year ended March 31, 2026. The deficit was at 15.19 trillion rupees or 97.5% of the government’s revised estimates presented in February.
Addressing the Indian diaspora in Chicago, the Finance Minister highlighted concerns regarding government borrowing and debt levels while outlining the nation’s economic targets.
“We have given ourselves a fiscal discipline path on the fiscal deficit as well. We have fulfilled the trajectory. The last mile that had to be reached by 2025-26, we have reached,” Sitharaman said.
She noted that the government has established a target to reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio to 50 per cent by 2030, contrasting India’s position with several advanced economies where debt levels exceed 200 per cent of GDP.
“The trust that the world has of the fiscal prudence of Prime Minister Modi- he was so when he was chief minister of Gujarat, he is so now, even when he is the prime minister of the country, the fiscal prudence shall not be compromised. As a result, credit ratings are improving,” she said.
The minister emphasised that the fiscal management was accomplished without reducing funding allocated for social welfare projects or public capital expenditure on infrastructure.
Outlining India’s broader economic resilience, Sitharaman pointed out that domestic economic growth has sustained a rate of 7 per cent or more following the COVID-19 pandemic, despite continuous global headwinds including the Russia-Ukraine war, tariff disputes, and supply disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.
