{
  "id": "gov-primdef-036",
  "question": "How large is the primary deficit?",
  "topic": "Governance",
  "unit": "% of GDP",
  "decimals": 1,
  "measures": "Union government primary deficit (fiscal deficit less interest payments) as a share of GDP: borrowing for everything except servicing past debt. Only Actuals are shown, each read from the Budget at a Glance published two years later; Budget and Revised Estimates are forecasts and are not mixed in. Ratios are as published, against the GDP estimates current at each Budget (2011-12 base).",
  "verified": true,
  "source": {
    "name": "Ministry of Finance, Budget at a Glance 2026-27",
    "url": "https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/doc/Budget_at_Glance/budget_at_a_glance.pdf",
    "table": "Budget at a Glance, 'Deficit Statistics' table, Primary Deficit, Actuals column, editions 2021-22 to 2026-27",
    "licence": "GODL-India"
  },
  "released": "2026-02-01",
  "retrieved": "2026-10-18",
  "nextDueBy": "2027-02-01",
  "processing": "Copied as published.",
  "exam": {
    "publisher": "Ministry of Finance, Department of Economic Affairs (Budget Division)",
    "survey": "Union Budget, Budget at a Glance 2026-27",
    "frequency": "Annual, with the Union Budget (normally presented on 1 February)",
    "measures": "Union government primary deficit (fiscal deficit minus interest payments) as a share of GDP",
    "notes": [
      "Each year has three figures: the Budget Estimate, the Revised Estimate a year later and the Actuals two years later; only Actuals are shown.",
      "Ratios are as published, against the GDP estimates current at each Budget (2011-12 base), not the 2022-23 GDP series.",
      "The Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act, 2003 is the law that sets the Union government's deficit and debt targets."
    ]
  },
  "targets": [],
  "values": [
    {
      "period": "2019-20",
      "start": "2019-04",
      "end": "2020-03",
      "value": 1.6
    },
    {
      "period": "2020-21",
      "start": "2020-04",
      "end": "2021-03",
      "value": 5.8
    },
    {
      "period": "2021-22",
      "start": "2021-04",
      "end": "2022-03",
      "value": 3.3
    },
    {
      "period": "2022-23",
      "start": "2022-04",
      "end": "2023-03",
      "value": 3
    },
    {
      "period": "2023-24",
      "start": "2023-04",
      "end": "2024-03",
      "value": 2
    },
    {
      "period": "2024-25",
      "start": "2024-04",
      "end": "2025-03",
      "value": 1.4
    }
  ],
  "page": "https://india.tf/c/gov-primdef-036/",
  "csv": "https://india.tf/c/gov-primdef-036/data.csv",
  "versions": "https://india.tf/c/gov-primdef-036/versions.csv"
}