Amaravati: Buggana Rajendranath Reddy defends excess borrowings

Amaravati: Defending excess borrowings by the state government, minister for finance Buggana Rajendranath Reddy said that AP is only state which protected and improved economy during Covid pandemic by helping people who lost their livelihood through various welfare programmes.

He said that by distributing money to people through various schemes, the state government is able to improve economy during lockdown period and added that the state is ahead of all states in protecting economy during crisis period.

Brushing aside the criticism of opposition parties on increasing debt of the state, the minister said that the state government borrowed in excess for the welfare of people. He said that the Central government itself gave permission for lending 2 per cent extra in addition to the usual 3 per cent in view of Covid.

The Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system introduced by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy also helped in a big way during corona crisis as money was transferred to the accounts of people directly without any middlemen, he said.

In addition, the state government is able to get grant in aid of Rs 24,000 crore from Central government, whereas the previous TDP government failed to get funds despite alliance with NDA in the past.

The minister said AP stands first in GST collection despite shut down of all sectors. The state government is able to collect Rs 16,169 crore registering 8 per cent growth in GST in present financial year. He said that the government is able to bring down fiscal deficit from -12.96 per cent to 7.6 per cent on an average for all the quarters of present financial year.

Rajendranath Reddy said the tax revenue stands at Rs 61,248.27 crore by January 2020-21, non-tax revenue Rs 2,569.58 crore and grant in aid Rs 24,420.85 crore. Whereas the revenue expenditure on pensions stands at Rs 14,185.97 crore by January 2021, Rs 8156.72 crore on expenditure on subsidy, and capital expenditure Rs 19,062.01 crore.

Condemning the comments of TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu on development of Kurnool district during his municipal election campaign, the minister said that the YSRCP government has been striving hard for development of Kurnool district. He cited the example of Orwakal industrial sector as part of Hyderabad-Bangalore industrial corridor, Orwakal airport and several other developmental works.

The finance minister said that though his ancestors were in mining for decades, he was still residing in an apartment and had an old car. He asked Naidu to compare his assets with him and not resort to cheap comments for political gain.