THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The US trade war against countries across the globe poses a serious threat to world trade and the global economy, and its consequences could be especially damaging for Kerala’s export-driven sectors, K N Balagopal, the state finance minister, said here on Tuesday. Products like marine goods, spices and tea — major export items from Kerala — would be hit hard if the US goes ahead with a proposed 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods, he warned.
He was inaugurating a seminar on Post-Covid Development Challenges and Response: Through the Lens of Kerala Budgets, organised by the Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation (GIFT).
Balagopal said developed countries such as the US and Australia have been mounting pressure on the Union government to open up the Indian market for agricultural and dairy imports. Reports indicate that Australia can sell milk in India at Rs 30 per litre. If cheaper milk is allowed into the Kerala market, local dairy farmers will be in serious trouble, he said.
The minister also criticised the campaign that Kerala is in a debt trap, with claims that the state's total debt has risen to Rs 6 trillion. “This is absolutely baseless. A section of so-called experts is spreading false information about Kerala’s debt position through social media,” he said. The state’s total debt by the end of FY 2025-26 would be around Rs 4.7 lakh crore. Based on a trend seen over the past three decades, Kerala’s debt has doubled every five years. Had that pattern continued, it would have already crossed Rs 6 trillion, he said.
Eminent economist Professor M A Oommen said the fiscal status of Kerala was critically affected by a series of natural calamities and the Covid pandemic. Presiding over the inaugural session, he noted that the 2018 floods alone caused a 4 per cent drop in the state’s Gross Domestic Product (GSDP). Corruption, he said, remains a serious concern, and without addressing it, Kerala’s progress will be impeded.
K R Jyothilal, additional chief secretary (Finance), Government of Kerala, and C Balagopal, chairman, KSIDC and founder CEO of Terumo Penpol Ltd, also spoke on the occasion. Dr K J Joseph, director, GIFT, delivered the welcome address and Dr A Saraf, Registrar, GIFT, proposed the vote of thanks.
Dr A V Jose, C P John, Pinaki Chabrabarthy, former Director, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, Achuthsankar, former Director, Department of Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, University of Kerala, Siddik Rabiyath, Dr P S Ranjith, Justin George, A Damodaran, Professor, IIM Bengaluru, Shekhar Kuriakose, Srikumar Chathopadhyaya, Sreedhar Radhakrishnan, S Muraleedharan and Shinu Varkey spoke in various sessions of the seminar.