New Delhi, Feb. 11 -- Noting that capital budget outlays have not come down, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said that the government is using almost the entire borrowed resources for financing effective capital expenditure.

The minister, who was replying to a marathon debate in Lok Sabha on 2025-26 budget, said that effective capital expenditure is projected at 15.48 lakh crore as against 13.18 lakh crore in the revised esitmates of 2024-25.

She said the effective capital expenditure for 2025-26 is 4.3 per cent of GDP as compared to the fiscal deficit target of 4.4 per cent.

Capital expenditure, or capex, is used to set up long-term physical or fixed assets.

Effective capital expenditure includes core capital outlays a...