Budget may be put off till Sept

Vijayawada: Will Andhra Pradesh government postpone presentation of the annual budget 2024-25 till September? This is the speculation making rounds in official and political circles.

It may be recalled that Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and the NDA alliance government has been stating that the state coffers are empty due to the illogical policies and bad governance of the previous YSRCP government which had pushed the state into a huge debt trap. The previous government had survived on borrowings rather than creating avenues for revenue generation, they have been alleging.

The NDA government in state had also released a white paper on the state financial condition and the herculean task ahead for the new government.

In the backdrop of this, it is being said that the Finance Department has mooted a proposal that the government bring an ordinance extending the vote-on-account budget passed by the previous government till September so that they can come up with comprehensive proposals and practical allocations. They are likely to submit the proposal to the Chief Minister soon.

This assumes importance as sources said that the government was contemplating holding the Assembly session from July 22. If it accepts the proposal of the Finance department then the possibility of postponing the session to September is not ruled out.