Read more about Budget 2017: Nearly 13 cr poor covered under social security schemes on Business Standard. Govt policies were inclined towards achieving welfare of the poor & other marginalised groups

1. Fiscal deficit in April-December hits
94% of budget target
Last year, fiscal deficit for the same period stood at 87.9%
Fiscal deficit in the first nine months of 2016-17 touched 93.9 per cent of the Budget target
as against 87.9 per cent for the same period a year ago.
In value terms, the April-December fiscal deficit stood at Rs 5.01 lakh crore, or 93.9 per
cent, Budget 2017 estimates (BE). The fiscal deficit stood at 87.9 per cent in the
corresponding nine months a year ago, as per 2015-16 BE.
Fiscal deficit, the gap between expenditure and revenue for the entire fiscal, has been
pegged at Rs 5.33 lakh crore, or 3.5 per cent of the GDP, for the financial year 2016-17.
As per data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), tax revenue came in at Rs
7.52 lakh crore, or 71.4 per cent of the full-year BE of Rs 10.54 lakh crore.
Total receipts from revenue and non-debt capital of the government during the period read
Rs 9.68 lakh crore or 67.1 per cent of BE.

2. The government's Plan expenditure during the fiscal came in at Rs 4.10 lakh core, 74.6 per
cent of the full-year budget estimate. During the same period last year, it stood at 74.4 per
cent.
The Non-Plan expenditure in April-December of 2016-17 was Rs 10.59 lakh crore, or 74.2
per cent, of the whole-year estimate.
The total expenditure (Plan and Non-Plan) was Rs 14.69 lakh crore, 74.3 per cent of the
government's full-year estimate of Rs 19.78 lakh crore.
The revenue deficit during April-December stood at Rs 3.54 lakh crore, or 100.1 per cent of
BE for 2016-17.