mumbai government finances both of the centre and states have shown remarkable resilience during the first half of the current fiscal with tax mopup surpassing expectations by a wide margin and expenditure remaining broadly in line with budget estimates despite higher pandemicrelated spending says the december issue of the rbi bulletinthe paper by the central banks house economists also notes a marked improvement in the quality of expenditure for both the centre and states which bodes well for a durable growth revivalthe centres direct tax collections soared 837 per cent in h1 led by growth in income tax and corporate tax at 647 per cent and 1051 per cent respectively on the back of strong corporate performance says the paperthe centres indirect tax collection also increased in h1 led by a more than 100 per cent jump in customs duty collection and higher crude oil prices and on the back of improving trade activity and higher import demandunion excise duty collection too rose 333 per cent over fy21 and 79 per cent over fy20 due to the higher duties levied in march and may 2020 to mobilise additional revenue as a pandemicinduced emergency measuregst collections also increased in h1 by 501 per cent and 125 per cent over fy21 and fy20 levels respectivelygst revenue had taken a hit in mayjune due to pandemicrelated restrictions but recovered quickly thereafter in line with the economic recovery and on account of steps taken by the tax administration to plug evasion and ease the compliance burdennovember 2021 gst collection was the second highest till date at rs 132 lakh crore up 253 per centthis has had around threefifths of the budgeted gst compensation cess collections of rs 1 lakh crore being realised between april and octoberthe centre has also transferred the entire amount of rs 159 lakh crore that was to be released to the states this fiscal under the backtoback loan facility in lieu of gst compensation cess the frontloading has been done to enable states to plan their expenditure effectivelygoing forward the general government fiscal deficit which remained subdued in h1 allows space for a pickup in expenditure in h2 to support and sustain the recovery in growth it notedthe budget envisaged a consolidation of the fiscal deficit from 95 per cent in fy21 to 68 per cent in fy22 states also budgeted for consolidation in their fiscal deficits from 47 per cent of gsdp in fy21 to 37 per cent in fy22the second wave in aprilmay this year turned out to be more severe in terms of loss of human lives but the impact on economic activity was contained through localised lockdowns and also better adaptation to live with the virus the bulletin saidgovernment finances showed remarkable resilience and buoyancy and as a result despite additional expenditure burden imposed by the second wave government spending has broadly remained in line with the budget estimatesthrust on capex has resulted in a significant improvement in the quality of expenditure a necessary condition for