Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy has blamed the massive borrowings made by the TDP government, the impact of bifurcation, and coronavirus pandemic for the State’s tight financial position.
In a release on Sunday, Mr. Rajendranath Reddy claimed that the capital expenditure increased appreciably in the last three years, and the government could account for every single rupee spent by it, contrary to the TDP’s claim that there had been large-scale diversion and misutilisation of funds.
Mr. Rajendranath Reddy said his predecessor Yanamala Ramakrishudu would speak only about FY 2020-21, when the entire world was shaken by COVID-19, and the bifurcation blues were not gone yet.
The government had successfully overcome the COVID-19 crisis, and it could revive the economy to some extent, but the TDP leaders would not acknowledge it for obvious reasons.
While the State’s revenues declined by over ₹8,000 crore due to COVID-19, the government had to incur nearly ₹7,130 crore expenditure on the treatment of people afflicted by the virus, vaccination and on the relief package, he said.
Nevertheless, there was no compromise in the delivery of Navaratnalu as the government was committed to the welfare of the masses, he added. A sum of ₹57,512 crore was credited into the bank accounts of the beneficiaries of various schemes through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).
Mr. Rajendranath Reddy said the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) of India had reported that the TDP government borrowed ₹17,000 crore over and above its eligibility and the consequence of it was the imposition of curbs by the Centre on the YSRCP government’s borrowing capacity.
He questioned from where Mr. Ramakrishnudu got the ₹8 lakh crore debt figure, which he was harping on.
He alleged that the TDP government had passed bills amounting to about ₹40,000 crore. Apart from this, the massive debt of the electricity distribution companies had to be cleared by the YSRC government.
He insisted that public finances had vastly improved since the YSRCP came to power in 2019, and much of the trouble faced by the government was caused by the TDP, which had thrown the FRBM and other norms to the winds.
