Market borrowings for the whole of 1997-98 stood at Rs 45,466 crore, according to monthly financial data on central government operations released by the finance ministry. The primary deficit during the period, meanwhile, shot up by 179.5 per cent due to large non-Plan revenue expenditure bill that went up by about 25 per cent to Rs 1,09,720 crore during the period April-December, 1998.

``The high primary deficit is largely attributable to a Rs 75,000 crore interest payment during the period,'' a finance ministry official said adding it stood at only Rs 50.045 crore during 1995-96 which had gone up to Rs 65,700 crore during the next financial year.

Meanwhile, fiscal deficit for the first nine months of the current fiscal shot up by over 75 per cent to Rs73,434 crore from Rs 41,463 crore in corresponding period of last fiscal.

This accounts for 80.7 per cent of the targeted deficit for the whole of 1998-99 at Rs 91,025 crore. During this period, non-Plan expenditure shot up by about 30 per cent to Rs 1,36,856 crore whereas revenue receipts increased by a meagre five per cent at Rs 99,691 crore.

The finance ministry official also blamed the large non-Plan expenditure to high subsidies which had risen from Rs 10,474 in 1989-90 to an estimated Rs 22,025 crore during 1998-99.

In so far as the non-Plan expenditure on capital account is concerned, it stood at Rs 27,136 crore during April-December 1998 with a silver lining in the form of an acceleration in loan disbursement.

As against the budget estimates of Rs 16,132 crore for loan disbursement, under the head of non-Plan expenditure on capital account for the whole of the current fiscal, as much as Rs 20,398 crore of loans were disbursed during the first nine months of the current financial year.

As forthe revenue receipts, the first nine months accounted for only 61.5 per cent of the revenue target of Rs 1,61,994 crore set for the year.

Regarding the sources of financing the deficit, external financing has undergone a perceptible decline during April-December 1998 to Rs 1382.30 crore as against the budgetary estimates of Rs 2,336.56 crore for the current fiscal.

On tax revenue, statistics reveal that the figure showed a marginal rise from Rs 70,230 crore during the first nine months of 1997-98 to Rs 71,004 crore in the same period of the current fiscal.

Non tax revenue too showed a rise from Rs 24,995 crore to Rs 28,687 crore during April-December 1998. Total revenue receipts stood at Rs 99,691 crore during the first nine months of the current fiscal as against Rs 95,225 crore in the same period of 1997-98.

In so far as recovery of loans are concerned, it stood at Rs 6055 crore during the first nine months of the current fiscal as against Rs 4,809 crore during the same period of the last financialyear.

Revenue deficit showed a huge rise from Rs 13,384 crore during the period April to December, 1997 to Rs 36,408 crore during the corresponding period of current fiscal, the monthly financial data on central government operations released by the finance minister, Yashwant Sinha on the website here yesterday said.