Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said the fiscal deficit would be within the estimated target of 6.8% of GDP.Replying to a discussion on the Appropriation Bill, 2009 in the Rajya Sabha today, the Minister said ,in the current scenario, with the trends in receipts and expenditure, along with a better-than-expected second quarter GDP, the fiscal deficit is expected to remain within limits.He was seeking the approval of the first batch of supplementary demands for grants. Last week, the Lok Sabha had approved the supplementary demands for grants, which seek to raise the public expenditure by an additional 25,727 crore rupees.The minister said the financial performance in the first half of 2009-10 was in line with the Budget Estimate presented in July. He added that the stimulus packages announced have started yielding results with the economy growing at 7% in the first half of the fiscal.On price rise,Mr.Mukherjee said, government is taking all steps to address the situation which has partly arisen because of high support prices paid to farmers.He said while the government is taking steps to tackle the price rise situation, the ground reality has to be kept in mind. Under the impact of floods, drought and global prices, food inflation crossed 19 per cent in November, the highest in over a decadeMr. Mukherjee also said that the Government is in favour of tax reforms in the country. He said that the government will come out with new Income Tax code by incorporating several important segments. However, he said the government is not in a hurry. The Finance Minister said that he will start holding pre-budget consultations with State Finance Ministers from 15th of January 2010 . Later, the house returned the Appropriation Bill by voice vote. The measure was passed earlier by the Lok Sabha.