Improved tax collections, coupled with the austerity drive, seem to be bearing fruit, with government finances looking much healthier now. The Centre’s fiscal deficit till September amounted to just Rs 1,97,775 crore or 49.3 per cent of the total fiscal target of Rs 4,00,996 crore. The figure stood at a much higher 77 per cent of the Budget estimate till September end, 2008.

Similarly, the Centre’s revenue deficit totalled Rs 1,64,983 crore or 58.4 per cent of the Budget estimate till September 2009, according to official figures released on Friday. The revenue deficit amounted to 141.9 per cent of the Budget estimate in the same period last year. The Centre’s total revenue receipts were at 39.8 per cent of the target estimate of Rs 2,44,471 crore during the period.