Kerala condemns RBI article

Thiruvananthapuram: Asserting that Kerala is not in a 'debt trap', Finance Minister KN Balagopal on Sunday said a RBI article that expressed concerns over the State's financial health was done without studying the ground realities.

Critical of the Reserve of India (RBI) article as well as the overall approach of the central government, Balagopal, also a senior leader of the State's ruling Left front, said Kerala is facing financial difficulties like any other Indian state and those can be managed only with collective efforts of the Centre and states. As the RBI write-up evoked mixed response after it called for corrective steps in five states including Kerala, Balagopal said those who prepared the report did not take into account the difficulties faced by his state due to outbreak of Covid-19 and Nipah and natural calamities like floods in 2018 and 2019.

"As far as Kerala is concerned, we are not in a debt trap. We have difficulties in finance just like many other states," the minister said. Balagopal said he expects that this year would see a remarkable improvement in the financial sector.

"This year we are expecting more improvement. Our finances are not at a dangerous level. We are 100 per cent sure that we can proceed with growth," the minister said but made it clear that for helping the states, the Centre has to change its approach. Urging the union government to provide the states their justifiable share of the revenue, Balagopal said the Centre has not decided yet on their demand for extending the GST compensation beyond June.