VIJAYAWADA: Expressing concern over the State finances, former chief secretary and BJP member IYR Krishna Rao cautioned the YSRC government that the State would go into an irreversible debt trap if freebies are doled out without being mindful of the consequences.
He noted that the debt-to-GSDP ratio of the State surged to 37 per cent from 27 per cent just within two years of YSRC rule and said that unless corrective steps are immediately taken by the Jagan Mohan Reddy government, it would be difficult to even pay salaries and pensions to government employees.In a press meeting at the party’s State office in Vijayawada on Tuesday, IYR recalled that the State had a debt of Rs 86,000 crore at the time of bifurcation and that it had exponentially shot up within a span of just seven years.
“The previous Chandrababu Naidu government increased the debt burden by Rs 1.5 lakh crore and the present Jagan government, within two years, has borrowed close to Rs 1.5 lakh crore, taking the total debt burden to Rs 3.85 lakh crore. This doesn’t include the off-budget borrowings though corporations or other means, which will be another Rs 1 lakh crore to Rs 1.5 lakh crore. Pointing out at YSRC’s lack of vision and direction, IYR added, “I often say that only the government, which is not sure if it would complete five years in term, and only aims at completing two years in power, resorts to this kind of reckless spending. It is unfortunate that AP has not had a leader with vision and competence to develop the State.”