Former Finance Minister and TDP Politburo member Yanamala Ramakrishnudu wrote a letter to Special Chief Secretary S.S. Rawat on August 23, seeking a clarification whether the recent findings of the Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG) on the State’s financial position in FY 2021-22 reflect the true picture.
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He stated that two inevitable conclusions could be drawn from the CAG’s observations, that the State government has misled the Government of India (GoI) with regard to its debt which exceeded the limits imposed by the 15th Finance Commission, and the Andhra Pradesh (AP) Government resorted to Off-Budget Borrowings (OBB) to the tune of ₹1,18,394 crore while Telangana received cuts in borrowing limits.
Also, it was evident from the CAG report that the total debt (public debt, OBB, government guarantees and dues to employees, Gram Panchayats, Energy and Water Resources Departments) has crossed ₹10,00,000 crore.
Mr. Ramakrishnudu stated that all the debt indicators (revenue and fiscal deficits and debt-to GSDP ratio) were high as per the CAG report, which also said AP’s capital expenditure was the lowest among all States and it was bound to have a cascading impact on the economy in the long term.
Mr. Rawat should, therefore, clarify if there was a scope for altering the figures pertaining to the State’s financial position vis-a-vis the issues pointed out by the CAG, the TDP leader requested.