MEASURE OF FISCAL HEALTH

Debt, not deficit, to be fiscal health check parameter

​Centre on Tuesday indicated a major transition from using fiscal deficit as a measure of fiscal health to debt-GDP ratio being the anchor of fiscal management in the coming years as it vowed to stick to its fiscal consolidation plan and kept the deficit at 4.9% of gross domestic product (GDP), lower than the interim budget estimate of 5.1% for 2024-25.