Vijayawada: Government denies opposition allegations of debt trap

Vijayawada : Condemning the alleged ‘false propaganda’ on deteriorating state financial conditions and increasing debts, special secretary to Chief Minister for finance and economic affairs Duvvuri Krishna said the total liabilities of YSRC government in the state rose at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.6 per cent till March 2023 to Rs 6.5 lakh crore as against the 21.8 percent CAGR during the TDP rule. He said as per the RBI reports the total outstanding liabilities of state government at the end of March 2023 are estimated at Rs 4,42,442 crore.

Speaking to media persons at the Secretariat on Thursday, the special secretary to CM while clarifying on state financial condition said that the outstanding liabilities of combined Andhra Pradesh on March 31, 2014 stand at Rs 1,96,202.40 crore. To this, Rs 7,333 crore would be added as this is the fiscal deficit for the first two months of 2014-15 financial year. The liability under TDP government in June 2014 is Rs 1,18,051 crore and same has increased to Rs 2,64,451 crore as on March 31, 2019.

The special secretary said that the outstanding liabilities have increased by 169 per cent during five years of TDP rule. As against that, the outstanding liabilities have increased by only 58 per cent during four-year YSRCP rule from 2019-23 translating to a compounded annual growth rate of only 12.69 during the period 2019-23.

Krishna said that the per capita debt as per the CAG report placed before the legislature in March 2023 is Rs 70,416 as of March 31, 2022. The per capita debt at the time of bifurcation of state was Rs 23,326. The same over five years of TDP rule increased to Rs 50,157. The special secretary to CM said that the main opposition party and some sections of media were resorting to false campaign of Rs 10 lakh crore debt trap, while the state government debts stand at Rs 6.51 lakh crore as per RBI reports.

He said that the state government has been spending huge amount of money towards welfare schemes. As per the Central Human Resources Development Authority reports, the gross enrollment ratio in schools in AP stands at 100.1 per cent due to increased expenditure on education sector. Krishna said the total capital expenditure during TDP government between 2014-19 stood at Rs 76,139 crore while it is Rs 75,411.10 crore in four years between 2019-23 under the current government.