BHUBANESWAR: Fiscal reforms in Odisha are at the cutting edge and on the right path with sensible approaches, said Deputy Director, Asia-Pacific Department of International Monetary Fund Anne Marie Gulde.
The team led by Gulde reviewed the Public Finance management (PFM) system of the State at a high-level meeting under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy in the Secretariat on Monday.
Gulde said “Odisha has shown great interest and progress in improving PFM. It is one of the most active States in India. We are impressed by the level of political will, technical preparedness, administrative commitment and the degree of progress that have been made,” she said. “We will continue our joint effort with Odisha in coming two years for full achievement of the targets,” she added.
The fiscal reforms issues relating to implementation of strategic fiscal planning, strategic budget making, preparation of fiscal strategy paper, Odisha Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (OFRBM) Act, fiscal risk management, cash management, commitment management and control (CMC) system, common treasury management and e-procurement were discussed.
Director, South-Asia Training and Technical Assistance Center (SATTAC), Sukhwinder Singh said, “Odisha is the first Indian state to have introduced strategic budget making and commitment control system.”
The success of Odisha could be showcased as a model for emulation by other Indian states, he said.Principal Secretary, Finance, AK Meena said under the new system Finance department would communicate the advance tentative ceiling to all departments for preparation of budget as per their priority keeping in view need of the people and commitment of the State.
On fiscal indicators of the State, Meena appraised the team that budget size of the State increased from Rs 18,516.52 crore in 2001-02 to Rs 1.39 lakh crore in 2019-20 thereby recording a growth of more than 18 times. Odisha is now a revenue surplus State.
Overcoming the revenue deficit situation of 5.48 pc of GSDP in 2001-02, the State has attained revenue surplus of 2.1 per cent in 2018-19.
He said the debt stock has decreased from 46.48 pc of GSDP in 2001-02 to 19.7 pc of GSDP in 2019-20. The fiscal deficit has been reduced from 7.68 pc to 3.49 pc during this period. The capital outlay for infrastructural sector has increased from 1.72 pc of GSDP in 2001-02 to 4.53 pc in 2019-20.
It was decided at the meeting that Odisha would continue to work with SATTAC in the areas of further improving fiscal management and resource augmentation in the State. SATTAC provides world class capacity development facility to Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The center also provides technical assistance support to few States, including Odisha.