Raabadi Nil, Appulu Full

Following criticism from the opposition parties, including the TDP, that the YCP government was borrowing beyond the budget limits and the state is not far behind to get trapped neck-deep in debts, finance minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy said that they were making such statements basing on CAG report. Reddy agreed that they have been taking loans but said that the opposition parties should understand under what circumstances was the state taking such drastic steps. He tried to explain what led to the grave situation.

Yes, people will be troubled if we go for loans as the opposition is saying, he said. “People and the opposition leaders should understand why and under what circumstances we are taking loans. Or we should try to find an alternative to compensate the losses incurred due to the Covid-induced lockdown,” he said.

He said that the percentage of outstanding liabilities of Andhra Pradesh at the end of 2020-21, in connection with Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) is 32.7%. The normal limit is 28% but ours is a bit more, he said, adding that even other states were in such a position.

“Now, let us see compare the same figures of other states, almost the same size of Andhra Pradesh. Kerala is at 30.3%, Punjab 38.7%, Rajasthan 34.5%, Uttar Pradesh 33.1% and in West Bengal, it is 34.7%.”

Except for Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka, all other states are going for debts. Now, we should think about overcoming the problem, he said.

“If we see the budget deficit, in terms of percentage, it was -12.96% in the first quarter of 2020 (March, April, May and June) against the normal -3%. In the second quarter it came to -9%, in the third quarter it was -5.5%, in the fourth quarter it reduced to -3.15% and the average of the deficit budget for the entire year is -7.6%,” he clarified.

The finance minister said that the deficit numbers are more or less the same across the country and it is mainly due to the lockdown. The Opposition parties are raising a hue and cry about the heavy borrowings being done by the state but we can’t help it because there was no income literally. In the first quarter itself, the deficit shot up to 13% which is very high, he pointed out.

“Rabadi nil, taxlu nil, anni nil, anni bandh lockdown lo,” Rajendranath Reddy added.