PNS | Vijayawada
Andhra Pradesh’s total debt stands at Rs 4,42,442 crore, according to State Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy. He asserted that the financial condition of the State government under the YSRCP’s rule is better than the previous TDP government. The ruling YSRCP government, led by CM Jagan Mohan Reddy, incurred a debt of Rs 1,77,991 crore during the last four years, dismissing claims of it being Rs 10 lakh crore, as propagated by certain media outlets and opposition leaders.
Addressing the media on Thursday, Minister Buggana urged the public not to be swayed by false information spread by self-proclaimed financial experts. He presented comparative data, pointing out that during the five-year period under the TDP (2014-15 to 2018-19), the annual debt increased by 14.7%. In contrast, during the last four years of YSRCP (2019-23), the debt growth was comparatively lower at 12.4%.
The revenue deficit during the previous TDP government was 2.4%, almost equal to the Central government’s revenue deficit of 2.5%.
Furthermore, Minister Buggana said that the State’s revenue deficit was significantly lower at 2.7% for the period 2019-23, while the country’s average revenue deficit stood at 4.8%.
Discussing fiscal deficits, he highlighted that during the TDP government, India’s average fiscal deficit was 3.1%, which increased to 4.5% in the current TDP government. Contrarily, the YSR Congress government managed a lower fiscal deficit of only 4% over the last four years, while the Government of India faced a fiscal deficit of 6.7%. Despite the improved financial condition of the current government compared to the previous one, Minister Buggana criticized the opposition for spreading lies and false propaganda.
Regarding debt growth during previous administrations, the Finance Minister cited historical data. During Chandrababu Naidu’s tenure as the first Chief Minister from 1994-95 to 1998-99, the annual growth rate of debt was 16.8%. Under YS Rajasekhar Reddy’s government from 2004 to 2009, the annual growth rate of debt decreased from 17% to 9.9%. However, during Chandrababu Naidu’s regime from 2014 to 2019, the annual growth rate of debt rose again to 14.7%. Comparatively, under the current CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s regime (2019-23), the annual growth rate of debt has been reduced to just 12.4%.
Minister Buggana also clarified that corporation loans can be categorised as either guaranteed or non-guaranteed. Power Discoms have no guarantees, while all other loans are guaranteed. During the TDP regime, the corporation’s debt increased by 33.4%, from Rs 14,028 crore at the time of bifurcation to Rs 59,257 crore when the TDP government concluded its tenure. However, during the current YSRCP government’s tenure, the corporation’s debt reached Rs 1,44,875 crores by the end of the previous July, with a growth rate of 25%.
