Hyderabad: MLCs question Harish over increasing borrowing limits

Hyderabad: Emphasising that rising economy needs more borrowing, Finance Minister T Harish Rao said that there was a more than two-fold increase in the GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product) from Rs 4,52,000 crore to Rs 11,05,000 crore under TRS government.

The Minister was responding to the doubts raised by the MLCs of Congress and other parties, who questioned the rationale behind increasing the borrowing limit during the motion for Telangana Fiscal Responsibility & Budget Management (FRBM) Bill. Explaining how Telangana was able to achieve what other States failed in the recent years, Harish pointed out that 'capital expenditures' propelled the State through its projects to a position where farmers were achieving good results. "We were able to produce 60 per cent of the nation's paddy, which is no less an achievement in agriculture," he said.

Earlier, MIM MLC Syed Aminul Hasan Jafri questioned as to how the State government would be able to manage the debts. "The CAG (Comptroller Auditor General) accounts in the past four months shows the revenue receipts should have been 33 per cent (as per budgeted account), but it remained at 16.5 per cent, which is 50 per cent less, while on the other hand the State government's capital receipts (borrowings) doubled and were 58 per cent during the same period. This indicates that even GSDP would fall and government should be more cautious," he said.

Congress MLC T Jeevan Reddy felt that this would further add to the burden on the citizens and if the government was going ahead, it should spend the funds carefully. "Central government should have provided grants rather pushing the States to borrow more funds," he felt.

BJP MLC N Ramchander Rao also cautioned the government from becoming a credit economy and hoped that the State would remain a balanced economy.