VIJAYAWADA: Expressing concern over the unchecked borrowing from different banks and funding agencies across the globe by the TDP Government in the State, experts from National Association of People’s Movements (NAPM) have warned that it will put AP in a debt trap. Speaking to media persons, experts including C Ramachandraiah of CESS, environmental expert Soumya Dutta, NAPM AP representative Ramakrishna Raju, Tani Merlin Alex from Working Group on International Financial Institutions, New Delhi, Meera Sanghamitra from NAPM and other said that the State government is borrowing from World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank, Japan Bank for International Cooperation, Japan International Cooperation Agency, Chinese Development Bank and Chinese Exim bank for energy and smart city projects.
They reminded that a debt comes with interest and need to be repaid, which will ultimately put a burden on the tax-payers in the state. They said unchecked borrowing will also jeopardize welfare policies and might even derail the development. The experts said funding from those institutions is not a charity and naturally comes with conditions, which might not be in best interests of the state. They stressed the need for monitoring of such rushed investment by the civil society.