NEW DELHI: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has said the government deliberately underreported its Public Accounts Liability and external borrowings, giving an incorrect picture of the economy.
The reported public account liability is Rs 8,82,119 crore in the statement of the Union Government Finance Accounts (UGFA). According to the CAG, the actual outstanding Public Accounts Liability was Rs 18,12,015 crore.
The government also underreported its external debt by Rs 2,04,478 crore.
“The actual outstanding Public Account liabilities as on 31 March 2019 works out to Rs 18,12,015 crore as against Rs 8,82,119 crore shown in the Statement. Thus, depiction of total Public Account Liabilities through a footnote and not as part of the main body of the statement or depicting the consolidated picture at any place, does not disclose the correct picture of Public Account Liabilities of the Union Government,” the CAG report said.
A similar lack of transparency was found in the reported public account liabilities in the Union Government Finance Accounts (UGFA).
“Statements 2 and 14 of UGFA 2018-19 show External Debt of the Union Government at historic rate of exchange and discloses the External Debt as converted at the current exchange rate (rate as on 31 March 2019) as a footnote. It is observed that the latter is Rs 2,04,478 crore higher than the amount at historic rate,” CAG said.
It said that by doing so, the government did not give an actual picture of external debt.
“This disclosure of the value of external debt only through a footnote affects the transparency of the accounts..,” it said.
The report has also pointed out that in the last few years, many critical pieces of information have been restricted to just a footnote, which also impacts the transparency of the government’s public accounts.