PANAJI
The Goa government has raised a total of Rs 500 crore through auction of government securities in the first five-months of the current financial year 2024-25.
In a bid to clear payments under various welfare schemes and other dues ahead of Ganesh festival, the cash-strapped State sold Rs 300 crore securities ahead of festive season, with the latest auction taking place on September 3.
After selling around Rs 1750 cr security bonds in the last fiscal, Goa was left with security bonds of Rs 990 crore, whose maturity estimated as per Reserve Bank of India is Rs 18,014 crore by 2038.
“State did not borrow a single rupee from April till June end. It was only in July-August that we had to auction security bonds worth Rs 500 crore,” a senior official said, adding that the State borrowing limit fixed for this fiscal is at Rs 3,000 crore.
The official said that the securities were put up for auction to meet the expenditure including payments of various welfare schemes, compensation towards crop damages and other infrastructure related works.
Ahead of Ganesh festivities, the State government had released an amount of Rs 60 crore to the beneficiaries of Dayanand Social Security Scheme (DSSS) for the month of June and July while another Rs 25 crore were released under Griha Aadhar, apart from payment of Rs 2.90 crore as compensation to the farmers towards crop loss.
To bridge the income-expenditure gap (fiscal deficit), the State borrows from the market through the issue of bonds known as State Development Loans (SDLs), which form a major part of its total outstanding liabilities.
This year, the State is expected to borrow around Rs 2,835 crore while it is expecting financial assistance to the tune of Rs 1,500 crore from the Centre.
As per Budget 2024-25, the revenue expenditure of the State is proposed at Rs 19,888 cr that includes expenditure on salaries, pensions, interest, grants and subsidies. At the same time, the capital expenditure is estimated at Rs 4,850 cr.
Last year, the State borrowed around Rs 2000 crore while before that it was over Rs 1,300 crore through the open market while the borrowing limit was Rs 3,500 and Rs 3000 crore, respectively.
In the financial year 2021-2022, the state government borrowed around Rs 2,700 crore through the open market. The borrowing limit was around Rs 3,200 crore.
