India's April-June fiscal deficit narrows to $36.8 billion as tax receipts rise

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's federal fiscal deficit for the April-June quarter narrowed to 2.74 trillion rupees ($36.83 billion), down more than 58% from the same period in the previous fiscal year, government data released on Friday showed, amid a pick up in tax receipts.

The fiscal deficit during the same period had widened to 6.62 trillion rupees last year, after a fall in tax receipts due to pandemic lockdown that led to the worst recession in seven decades.

Net tax receipts in the first three months to end-June rose to 4.13 trillion rupees ($55.51 billion), from 1.35 trillion rupees during the same period in the previous fiscal year, while government spending marginally rose to 8.21 billion rupees, from 8.16 trillion rupees, the data showed.

($1 = 74.3970 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Manoj Kumar and Aftab Ahmed; Editing by Alex Richardson)