VIJAYAWADA: Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy on Friday presented, what could be termed, a ‘confident, optimistic and welfare’ Budget for 2022-23 with a proposed expenditure of Rs 2.56 lakh crore, up from Rs 2.29 lakh crore in 2021-22.
A whopping Rs 48,802 crore has been allocated for 21 Direct Benefit Transfer schemes including Rs 18,000 crore for YSR Pension Kanuka, Rs 3,900 crore for YSR Rythu Bharosa, Rs 6,500 crore for Amma Vodi and Rs 6,400 crore for YSR Asara among others.
Unveiling the Budget, the Finance Minister sounded upbeat, despite facing criticism of fiscal imprudence from the Opposition which has been citing the increasing debt burden and warning of a debt-trap for the State ahead. A glance at the estimates shows revenue receipts are expected to increase from Rs 1.54 lakh crore in 2021-22 to Rs 1.91 lakh crore while revenue expenditure is projected at Rs 2.08 lakh crore — meaning a revenue deficit of Rs 17,036 crore.
In fiscal 2021-22, it was Rs 19,545 crore. Fiscal deficit overall is expected to be a staggering Rs 48,724.11 crore, up from Rs 38,224 crore the previous fiscal. Capital receipts are expected to touch Rs 65,031 crore, about Rs 10,000 crore more than previous year. Of this, open market loans could be Rs 55,000 crore. The State’s own tax revenue is pegged at Rs 91,049 crore. It was Rs 73,689 crore in the last fiscal against the expected Rs 85,280 crore. Similarly, the share from Central taxes is estimated to go up marginally by about Rs 2,000 crore to Rs 33,050 crore and grants-in-aid from the Centre are put at Rs 56,033 crore. Last fiscal, the actual grants-in-aid were Rs 46,443 crore as against the anticipated Rs 57,930 crore. On the other hand, capital expenditure is projected to be Rs 30,679 crore. In the previous fiscal, the government was able to shell out only Rs 18,529 crore despite estimated expenditure of Rs 31,198 crore.
The outstanding public debt, over which there has been a raging debate, is shown as Rs 4.39 lakh crore or 32.79% of the GSDP, up from Rs 3.9 lakh crore or 32.51% last fiscal.
FM quotes Kalidasa, highlights vision of hope
There is a catch here, though, which is the issue of off-budget borrowings through corporations, etc. The State already stands guarantee for about Rs 1.17 lakh crore borrowed by such entities.
Amid this scenario, the Finance Minister gave pride of place to ‘Navaratnalu’ and hiked allocations to sectors such as education, health. For education, the allocation is around Rs 30,000 crore including Rs 27,000 crore for secondary education alone. For health sector, Rs 15,384 crore has been allocated. Last fiscal, Rs 13,702 crore was spent on health sector with capital expenditure being Rs 967 crore. Irrigation expectedly received Rs 11,482 crore. Rural development has been allocated Rs 17,109 crore.
Interestingly enough, the Finance Minister made no mention of Amaravati, the capital. One has to wait and see if funds allocated to municipal administration or urban development would be used to develop it.
Summing up his budget, Buggana explained, “In the last three years, our government has set in motion transformational changes in the State through Navaratnalu and manifesto schemes. Through sustained efforts of our government, institutional strengthening and social inclusion, this process has gathered momentum to make AP a leader in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).” Terming social security, livelihood support, infrastructure provision and human capacity development as the three main pillars of growth trajectories of developed countries, he stressed that the welfare schemes have been designed keeping in mind the 17 SDGs laid down by the UN. AP aims to be a leader among Indian States to successfully integrate SDGs with the Outcome Budget Statement Model as recommended by the NITI Aayog, he said. In essence, he meant welfare coupled with improvement in infrastructure in hospitals and schools under Nadu Nedu programme, etc., could be a game-changer.
However, as it is always, it is a question of mobilising finances. The revised estimates of the previous fiscal show growth in revenues but not up to expectations. The Finance Minister’s optimism, perhaps, stems from the Socio-Economic Survey-2021-22 which showed the State has fully recovered from the adverse impact of Covid-19. Nominal GSDP grew by 18.47 per cent for 2021-22 while at constant prices, the growth for the same period was 11.43 per cent --- up from 0.08 per cent in 2020-21. Therein lies hope for the future. Tellingly, Buggana ended his speech with a quote from Kalidasa “... today well lived, makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well, therefore to this day.” A bit philosophical, but says much about the Jagan Mohan Reddy government’s policy of sticking to the poll manifesto, notwithstanding financial constraints.
The opposition was quick to dismiss the budget. TDP general secretary Lokesh termed it anti-poor and anti-development. He sought to know why the government was targeting Rs 16,500 crore from liquor sales — a total U-turn from Jagan’s pre-poll promise of phased prohibition. A good question.
