VIJAYAWADA: The YSRC government is bearing the brunt of the overborrowing during the TDP government, said Krishna Duvvuri, Special Secretary (Finance and Economic Affairs) to the Chief Minister. Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, he said the Ministry of Finance has deducted an amount of Rs 16,418.99 crore pertaining to the previous government from the borrowing limit of the present government. “Therefore, it not only has to service the liabilities emanating from the period of the previous government, but also has to endure the problem of a deduction in its borrowing limit to adjust for the over borrowing during the period of the TDP government,” he said.
Krishna Duvvuri said the rate at which the debt increased during the present regime is at a slower pace than the previous TDP regime. The CAGR (Compounded annual growth rate) of debt during the TDP period was 17.33% as against 14.88% during the present government, he pointed out. Criticising the Opposition and a section of the media for resorting to a misinformation campaign that the state’s finances are dangerously impaired and that the state is on the verge of bankruptcy, Krishna Duvvuri said such propaganda is aimed at diminishing the reputation of the State.
“These are excruciatingly difficult times. One year of economic slowdown and two years severely impacted due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Centre’s outstanding debt has increased from Rs 90.83 lakh crores on March 31, 2019 to Rs 135.88 lakh crore on March 31, 2022. From 2014 to 2019, the Centre’s debt has increased at a CAGR of less than 10% and now the Centre’s debt grew at a CAGR of more than 14%,” he said.
It is a shame that the TDP, which is primarily responsible for the debt increase, is blaming the present government, which has ensured that the debt does not increase at the same rate even during these excruciatingly difficult times, he added.
Pointing out a recent claim that the revenue deficit of the state has reached 918.14 per cent of the annual budget amount during the first nine months of the current fiscal, he said the actual achievement as compared to what was budgeted reflects the effectiveness of the budgeting exercise. “In the current financial year, the actual performance to the budget was 918%. However, the same source conveys that the actual performance during the corresponding period in the financial year 2017-18 was as high as a whopping 5,484%,” he pointed out.