Figure may fall below 6% of GDP as States’ revenues rise

One of the unintended benefits of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) could well be that the combined fiscal deficit of the Centre and the States as a percentage of GDP is expected to move below 6 per cent in 2017-18.This may appear ambitious, given that the figure would be the lowest level since 2007-08, and since the additional outgo on pay revisions and farm loan waivers could throw a spanner in t...