VIJAYAWADA: Faced with a severe financial crunch, the finance department has issues oral instructions to the treasury to stop making payments for a variety of bills with immediate effect. Usually, the treasury gets such instructions between 26 of every month and sixth of the following month.
But this being the fourth quarter and receipts coming in a trickle, the government is moving cautiously to mop up resources for payment of salaries and pensions, particularly the latter in view of the bitter experience in the immediate aftermath of the demonetisation of high-value currency when pensioners had faced an unprecedented situation.
After clearing salaries and pensions, the treasury, official sources told Express, will clear bills pertaining to office expenses, medical reimbursement etc. But what is left unsaid is that following the instructions, all the district treasuries have stopped payments for development works since February 8.
A senior official, on condition of anonymity, said they had routinely forwarded bills and cheques to banks for making payments but had to advise the bankers not to go ahead after receiving the orders.
“An automatic bank slip containing details of the bills will be generated and the bankers make payments accordingly. But, we have stopped the central server from generating the automatic slip. Now, even if we pass the bills, payments will not be made until further orders from the government,” the official added.
Sources explained that the widening revenue deficit has resulted in the present financial crisis. The estimated revenue deficit for the financial year 2016-17 is around `4,868 crore. It is expected to rise to `14,174 crore by the end of the fiscal. The sources said the State could get some relief only if the Centre increases the FRBM limit to 4 per cent