TD govt presents poll ticket' budget

Vijayawada: Terming it as a ‘vote on account’ Budget, finance minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu on Tuesday presented a '2,26,177.53 crore Budget that is being seen as the Telugu Desam’s ticket to return to power in the forthcoming elections.

Mr Ramakrishnudu proposed an expenditure of '2,26,177.53 crore (revenue expenditure estimated at Rs 1,80,369.33 crore and capital expenditure of Rs 29,596.53 crore) which includes Rs8,994 crore towards principal repayment of public debt.

The 2019-20 Budget estimates entail an overall increase of around 18.38 per cent over the 2018-19 estimates. While revenue expenditure is estimated to increase by around 20.03 per cent, capital expenditure is estimated to grow by around 3.20 per cent over financial year 2018-19.

Mr Ramakrishnudu put the estimated revenue deficit at around Rs 2,099.47 crore and said that the fiscal deficit was estimated at around Rs 32,390.68 crore.

The fiscal deficit will be around 3.03 per cent of the GSDP, whereas the revenue deficit would be around 0.20 per cent of the GSDP.

The total liabilities of Andhra Pradesh government have increased from Rs 1,48,744 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 2,23,706 crore in 2017-18. This corresponds to 28.33 per cent of the GSDP in 2014-15 and 27.83 per cent of the GSDP in 2017-18.

Mr Ramakrishnudu said that five years ago, there were some doubts that the TD government would even be able to pay salaries to employees and meet general expenditure.

“Now we are building a world-class capital city overcoming the financial hurdles,” he said, pointing out that AP achieved an average growth rate of 10.66 per cent in the past four years and was ahead of all India growth in all the three sectors of the economy.

Mr Ramarkishnudu said that Rs12,732 crore was allotted to agriculture, Rs8,242 crore to BC welfare, Rs22,783 crore to secondary education, Rs35,182 crore to panchayat raj and rural development, Rs16,226 crore for the BC sub-plan, Rs4,000 crore to newly-introduced Pasupu Kumkuma scheme, Rs10,401 for old age pensions.

He said that the government, despite facing severe financial difficulties, continued its welfare schemes and fulfilled all promises with dedication and hard work.  

“During these tough times, the people have placed their hope and faith in Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu. They trusted his extensive administrative experience, national and international standing and his ability to face the challenges head-on, to place the state on a fast track developmental trajectory and the government worked according to the expectations,” Mr Ramakrishnudu said.