Attempts are being made to create a widespread concern among the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Central government, the banks and financial institutions, Parliament, and people about the State‘s financial position, which has been adversely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and some extraneous factors, Duvvuri Krishna, Special Secretary to CM (Finance and Economic Affairs), has said.
However, it could by no means be compared to the crisis plaguing Sri Lanka, Mr. Krishna told the media at the Secretariat on Thursday. Adviser (Public Affairs) Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy was present.
‘Debt situation encouraging’
Mr. Krishna said the debt situation in the financial year 2022 was quite encouraging, and the government managed its finances in the most prudent manner with the revenue deficit being limited to approximately ₹8,371 crore and fiscal deficit to ₹25,195 crore.
This translated to a fiscal deficit-to-GSDP ratio of less than 2.10% against 4.5% recommended by the 15th Finance Commission, he said.
During every year of the TDP term, this ratio was in excess of the then prevailing limit of 3%, Mr. Krishna said. The ratio recorded now was the lowest in eight years, he added.
TDP government blamed
The misgovernance and fiscal profligacy of the TDP government had resulted in a substantial rise in the liabilities, he alleged.
At the time of bifurcation, the debt assigned to the government of the successor State of Andhra Pradesh was ₹97,123 crore, and, when the public account share was added, it ballooned to ₹1,20,556 crore. Over the following five years, the debt had increased to ₹2,68,225 crore, Mr. Krishna said.
Due to the TDP government’s mismanagement between 2014 and 2019, the State had to endure the burden of more additional liabilities, he alleged.
The outstanding payables at the end of May 2019 were ₹39,000 crore. The borrowings of PSUs with State government guarantee were ₹59,258 crore, which stood at ₹14,029 crore at the time of bifurcation.
Burden on power utilities
Further, the debt in the books of the power utilities increased from ₹29,703 crore to ₹68,596 crore during the five year period of 2014-19. Besides, the Discoms’ dues to the power generators mounted from ₹2,894 crore to Rs.21,541 crore during the same period.
Mr. Krishna asserted that in spite of severe constraints, the YSRCP government had done everything possible to ramp up the finances.
The pace at which the State government’s liabilities (contingent and direct) grew was much lower than what had been witnessed during the TDP term, he said, suggesting that making comparisons with the turmoil in Sri Lanka was unfair. Andhra Pradesh’s position was far better that what was being projected by the opposition parties, he added.
