Centre's tax revenue grew by 39 per cent to Rs 81,444 crore (Rs 814.44 billion) and non-tax revenue up by 15 per cent to Rs 25,107 crore (Rs 251.07 billion) till August, lending confidence to Finance Minister P Chidambaram that it was possible to meet deficit targets for 2006-07 even if unexpected expenditure rose.

"I am confident, given the buoyancy in tax revenue, targets for fiscal deficit and revenue deficit will be met for the current fiscal," he told reporters.

The tax revenue during April-August was 24.89 per cent of the budget estimate of Rs 3,27,205 crore (Rs 3272.05 billion) while non-tax revenue was 32.9 per cent of the budget estimate of Rs 76,260 crore (Rs 762.6 billion) for 2006-07, finance ministry sources said.

The tax revenue collection was Rs 58,482 crore (Rs 584.82 billion) and non-tax collection Rs 21,687 crore (Rs 216.87 billion) in April-August last year.

Total government expenditure stood at Rs 2,00,436 crore (Rs 2004.36 billion) during the first five months which is 35.5 per cent of Rs 5,63,991 crore (Rs 5639.91 billion) estimated for entire 2006-07.

Plan expenditure at Rs 53,920 crore (Rs 539.2 billion) and non-plan expenditure at Rs 146,516 crore (Rs 1465.16 billion) were 31.2 per cent and 37.4 per cent of the budget estimate respectively.

During the period under review, Centre has transferred Rs 10,987 crore (Rs 109.87 billion) to states that works out to be 37 per cent of the budget estimate of Rs 29,562 crore (Rs 295.62 billion) for 2006-07.

The transfer to the states was higher than Rs 7,882 crore (Rs 78.82 billion) during the corresponding period last fiscal. Fiscal deficit touched Rs 90,678 crore (Rs 906.78 billion) in April-August or 60.98 per cent of the budget target while revenue deficit stood at Rs 79,348 crore (Rs 793.48 billion) or 93.71 per cent of the target.

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