EPS rebuts minister, says debt burden and revenue deficit up under DMK government

Palaniswami said since 2021, the DMK government has hiked the power tariff thrice.
AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami addressing the party cadre at Omalaur in Salem on Tuesday
AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami addressing the party cadre at Omalaur in Salem on Tuesday Photo | Express
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CHENNAI/COIMBATORE: Joining issue with Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu over the fiscal position and debt burden of the state government, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Tuesday said the DMK which came to power with the promise of improving the fiscal management has failed in all economic indicators besides increasing the debt burden as well as revenue deficit.

Referring to the statement of Thennarasu that he (Palaniswami) lacked proper understanding about fiscal management of the state, the AIADMK chief said when his party was in power, the DMK MLAs, who are now ministers, had said efficient fiscal management signifies containing the fiscal deficit while removing the revenue deficit totally besides controlling the extent of borrowing and spending the amount borrowed on capital expenditure.

Palaniswami said since 2021, the DMK government has hiked the power tariff thrice. But despite this, the government is providing additional funds to the TNEB. This shows that the fiscal management of the TNEB has been destabilised, he said.

But during the AIADMK regime, the debt burden stood within 25% of the state GDP but after the DMK government assumed office, this had gone beyond 26%, he said.

“During the AIADMK regime, despite the reduction in the central share due to finance commission recommendation and by bearing the debt of the TNEB, the revenue deficit was lesser till 2018-19 and it went up only to the loss of revenue due to Covid-19.

In the next two financial years, the revenue deficit came down since the revenue receipts increased. This is a quite normal phenomenon. However, the revenue deficit increased during the past two years. The minister should have explained this,” Palaniswami added.

The AIADMK leader also said the total borrowings during the five years of the DMK government are likely to exceed Rs 5 lakh crore. This is higher than the total borrowings of the state government for the past 73 years after the Independence (till 2020-21).

“However, not even 50% of this has been spent on capital expenditure but a large portion of the borrowings has been spent on revenue expenditure. When we point out this, the minister says we don’t have a proper understanding about the fiscal management,” he added.

Talking to reporters at Omalur in Salem on Tuesday, Palaniswami said Tasmac revenue under the DMK government has increased to Rs 69,588 crore against Rs 43,489 crore in the AIADMK rule.

When asked whether there is a chance of an alliance with the BJP if the party’s state unit president K Annamalai is changed, Palaniswami said, “There is no need for this

question as we have already come out of the alliance. It (BJP) is a national party. We do not have the authority to say whether they will replace him or not.”

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