Gita Gopinath: time for State to be prudent with expenditure

Budget had acknowledged it, says the Harvard professor and Economic Advisor to the Chief Minister.

March 24, 2018 01:43 am | Updated 08:13 am IST - KOCHI:

 Kochi, Kerala, 23/03/2018: Gita Gopinath , Professor at the economics department of Harvard University and the Financial advisor to the Chief Minister of Kerala at #Future submit in the city on Friday. Photo : Thulasi Kakkat.

Kochi, Kerala, 23/03/2018: Gita Gopinath , Professor at the economics department of Harvard University and the Financial advisor to the Chief Minister of Kerala at #Future submit in the city on Friday. Photo : Thulasi Kakkat.

Harvard professor and Economic Advisor to the Chief Minister Gita Gopinath has said that the State has to be far more prudent with its expenditure side.

“The Budget has acknowledged that the expenditure needs to be reined in. It has grown at a faster pace. A part of it [is owing to] the expectations that revenues will be higher. The fact that it has not come in clearly tells you that you have to be far more prudent with your expenditure side,” she told mediapersons on the sidelines of #FUTURE here on Friday.

Ms. Gopinath pointed out that the Budget had acknowledged that the expenditure needed to be reined in. “It will not happen overnight. But it will happen gradually in terms of rationalising,” she said.

'Higher revenue in wait for the State'

To a query on how fiscal discipline would be ensured at a time when the government was spending lavishly on renovating houses of Ministers and reimbursing expensive spectacles, Ms. Gopinath said she did not make decisions on various expenditures. “The Budget report did talk about ensuring that there is no spillage from the system. With GST becoming more operational and better functioning, that would bring in higher revenue for the State,” she added.

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