HYDERABAD: State government sources on Sunday claimed that the Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy-led administration has managed to reduce some of the debt burden on the people over the past five months. According to these sources, the state government borrowed Rs 17,618 crore during this period, while simultaneously repaying loans to the tune of Rs 25,911 crore, including both principal and interest amounts.
Highlighting the significance of these figures, the sources said that the amount expended on repaying existing loans exceeded the funds raised through new borrowing, a testament to the fiscal prudence practised by the government. The Congress government has accorded top priority to restoring the state’s financial stability, which had been compromised under the previous BRS regime, they said.
The sources further asserted that the corrective measures implemented by the Congress government were yielding positive outcomes and attributed the progress to the administration’s adherence to financial discipline. They recalled that the BRS government had accrued Rs 7 lakh crore in loans, which necessitated significant allocations for repayment, becoming a burden on the state exchequer.
Since assuming office in December 2023 until April 13, 2024, the Revanth-led government raised Rs 17,618 crore through both budgetary and off-budgetary loans, while concurrently repaying Rs 25,911 crore. “However, the loans raised by the present administration in the last four months were not sufficient to repay the principal and interests on the loans raised by the BRS government,” explained the official sources.
The sources elaborated that the Congress government expended an average of Rs 207 crore per day over the past 125 days to honour its commitments towards servicing the loans raised by the BRS government. Despite these repayments, the Revanth government managed to allocate Rs 5,816 crore towards capital expenditure, they added.
“The Revanth Reddy government is maintaining utmost restraint and taking loans as per the eligibility. This government is not raising loans indiscriminately like the BRS government,” stated the sources.
The sources highlighted that in the first four months, the Congress government raised Rs 15,968 crore in loans. During the same period in 2022–23, the then BRS government had raised loans totalling Rs 19,569 crore, while in 2021–22, the loans raised stood at Rs 26,995 crore.
It must be noted that in the Vote-on-Account Budget presented for 2024–25, the government proposed to take a loan of Rs 59,625 crore. However, as of now, the government has only availed Rs 2,500 crore in the current financial year, according to the sources.
Fiscal prudence
The government expended an average of Rs 207 crore/day over the past 125 days to service the loans raised by the previous BRS government
The government managed to allocate Rs 5,816 crore towards capital expenditure
In four months, the rate of raising loans dropped by 22.5% when compared to same period in 2022–23 and 69% when compared to 21–22