E-Paper
‘C’garh govt’s total outstanding debt crossed ₹70k cr at end of 2019-20’: CAG
The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, released on Friday, stated the total outstanding debt of the Chhattisgarh government stood at ₹78,712 crore at the end of 2019-20
The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, released on Friday, stated the total outstanding debt of the Chhattisgarh government stood at ₹78,712 crore at the end of 2019-20.
The report further pointed out that using borrowed funds for meeting current consumption and repayment of interest on outstanding loans is not sustainable in the long run.
Further, the CAG also recommended that the borrowed funds should be utilised to create assets to stimulate growth.
“The Revenue Expenditure (of the state) increased by 14.08 per cent during 2019-20 compared to the previous (financial) year, whereas the Capital Expenditure decreased by 3.79 per cent during the same period,” the report stated, adding that the Revenue Expenditure increased mainly due to the increase in salaries and wages, pensions, interest payments and subsidies.
Capital expenditure of the state showed a significant decrease during the last two years with a decrease of ₹1,098 crore in 2018-19 and ₹337 crore in 2019-20, it said.
The state government registered a nominal decrease of 1.88 per cent in its revenue receipts during 2019-20 compared to the previous year. The own tax revenue and non-tax revenue increased by 3.22 and 3.00 per cent respectively and could not achieve the level anticipated in budgetary projections. The state continued to be dependent on the Government of India with 53 per cent of the revenue coming from the state’s share of union taxes and duties and grants-in-aid, it said.
Debt repayment increased significantly in 2019-20 as compared to 2018-19 and total debt receipts also increased by ₹5,217.43 crore when compared to 2018-19.
“The total outstanding debt of the state government at the end of 2019-20 was ₹78,712 crore”, it added.
“Borrowed funds should ideally be used to fund capital creation and developmental activities. Using borrowed funds for meeting current consumption and repayment of interest on outstanding loans is not sustainable in the long run and would impact the creation of assets,” the report underlined.
The report further recommended, “state government should explore various measures to mobilise additional resources to improve its fiscal parameters in line with the targets specified by the Finance Commission and its own FRBM projections.
Capital expenditure needs to be enhanced and borrowed funds should be utilized to create assets to stimulate growth. Government should review and analyze the reasons for delays in the completion of capital projects and initiate expeditious measures to enable the departments involved, to overcome the hurdles in this regard,” the report added.
(With inputs from PTI)
