The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has pulled up the Finance Ministry for deferring its fiscal deficit targets and opaqueness in Budget classifications.

The issues have been raised in two audit reports on the provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act 2003 and Accounts of the Union Government for 2016-17, which were tabled in Parliament on Tuesday.

“Deferment of fiscal targets needs to be carried out through appropriate amendment in the Act,” said the CAG in its audit on the provisions of the FRBM Act. In Budget 2016-17, the target date of elimination of effective revenue deficit was deferred from March 2018 to March 2019, without corresponding amendment in the Act.

Further, in Budget 2017-18, the target date of effective revenue deficit was deferred beyond FY 2019-20 and that of fiscal deficit to 2018-19 by the Government, without amending the Act.