Congress Govt releases white paper on finance of Telangana

Hyderabad: The State government on Wednesday released a white paper on the status of Telangana’s finance and announced that the debts of Telangana are Rs.6,71,757 crores.

Addressing the Assembly after the announcement of a short discussion on “Telangana State Finances-White Paper”, Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Batti Vikramarka said that at the time of the formation of Telangana State, the debt was Rs. 72,658 crores and it had increased at the rate of 24.5 percent per annum in ten years.

He pointed out that 34 percent of the revenue was going to loan repayments and 35 percent to employees’ salaries and pensions.

Expressing concern over the poor financial status of Telangana, the Deputy Chief Minister said that there was a situation where the State government has to get loans for daily expenses as well and the State has gone bankrupt in ten years.

“It is our responsibility to tell people about economic anarchy done by the previous BRS government,” Batti Vikramarka said.

Meanwhile, the white paper said that due to the increased fiscal stress, the State has to depend upon the ways and means advances from the RBI on a daily basis.

The Congress government pointed out that the State has not been able to spend enough money on critical sectors such as education and health where the budgeted amount as the proportion of the total expenditure is amongst the lowest in the country.

The white paper disclosed that Telangana State, which was a revenue surplus State in 2014 and had one of the fastest growing economies in the country, is now staring at a debt crisis.

“The rate of accumulation of the debt from off-budget borrowings has led to this situation. Every effort will be made to increase the state’s resources and direct expenditures toward uplifting the impoverished, while reducing unnecessary spending,” it said.

However, the State government reiterated that it would implement all the six guarantees promised by the Congress party during the elections and said that it would overcome the fiscal challenges in a responsible, prudent and transparent manner.