Amid the financial strains that put the Kerala government in a fix making it difficult for it to meet its fiscal obligations efficiently, a document tabled by Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal in the Assembly on Tuesday revealed that the State’s public debt has come down to ₹2.38 lakh crore at the end of March 2022-2023.
As per the accounts of the Accountant General, the State government’s public debt was ₹2,38,000.97 crore in March 2023, around 23.8% of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), which was pegged at ₹10,17,872.58 crore as per the 2022-23 Budget estimate.
According to previous documents tabled by the State government in the Assembly, the cumulative debt of the State, as of March 2022, stood at ₹3,32,291 crore, a big leap from ₹1,89,768.55 crore in 2016-17.
Debt-to-GSDP ratio
Similarly, Kerala’s public debt-to-GSDP ratio was 24.26% during the 2021-22 period, while it was 27.07% in the 2020-21 fiscal. In short, the total accumulated public debt-to-GSDP ratio has also come down compared to the previous years. The drop in public debt-to-GSDP ratio was mainly due to the restrictions enforced by the Centre like whittling down the borrowing limit of the State.
Although the State was allowed to borrow ₹8,323 crore for modernisation works in the power sector in 2022-23, the public debt-to-GSDP ratio has come down, noted the Finance Minister. On the other hand, the State’s Own Tax Revenue has registered a robust growth in the past couple of years. Kerala’s Own Tax Revenue was ₹47,661 crore in 2022-21 which grew by 23.4% to ₹71,968 crore in 2022-23, said the Minister.
