AP's revenue grew by 16.7 per cent during YSRC rule against 6 per cent under TD term
VIJAYAWADA: Finance minister Buggana Rajendranath has denied allegations from the Telugu Desam that there was a huge increase in AP’s debts for the past four years of the YSRC rule.
“The previous (TD) government had plunged the state in debts. But, the present government borrowed money only as per norms. There is no truth in the contention that AP’s financial situation is in a bad condition,” the minister claimed.
He made it clear that the state government cannot borrow beyond its limits as per the fiscal responsibility and budget management (FRBM) norms.
Addressing the media at the Secretariat in Velagapudi on Thursday, Rajendranath said the revenue has grown by 16.70 per cent during the YSRC rule. “However, the growth in revenue was just 6 per cent in the TD rule.”
He flayed the comments of former minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, who wrote a letter to the finance secretary recently regarding the state’s financial issues. “Ramakrishnudu misled the people on the debts of the state government,” he said.
“The YSRC government has borrowed much less than what the previous TD government did. During the past three years, the government borrowed Rs 3.72 lakh crore. But the former minister showed it as Rs 11 lakh crore.
TD leaders are trying to claim that these debts occurred during the rule of the YSRC.”
Rajendranth stated that the state’s revenues had increased after Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy took over the reins in 2019. Despite the Covid-19 problem, the state witnessed economic growth in the last four and half years. Reacting to the demand made by the state BJP chief Daggubati Purandeswari for a forensic audit on the AP debts, he said there was no need for this.
He said all these finance figures were audited by the CAG and hence there was no need for a forensic audit. While the total debt was Rs 3.72 lakh crore, the Rs 1.18 lakh crore was the debt of several corporations. Of this, Rs 57,687 crore was borrowed by the TD government.
Speaking on the overdraft (OD), Rajendranath said the performance of the YSRC government was better than the previous TD government. The TD government spent Rs 15,000 crore per annum on capital expenditure between 2014 and 2019, whereas the YSRC government spent Rs 18,300 crore per annum from 2019 to 23, he added.
