PANAJI
The Goa government has so far borrowed only 23 per cent of its full-year open market borrowing target set by the Union Government.
As against the set ceiling of Rs 4,500 crore for the financial year 2024-25, Goa has borrowed only Rs 1,050 as on February 28.
The information was provided in the Rajya Sabha by the Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary.
Interestingly, State’s substantial borrowing repayment to the tune of around Rs 3300 crore will begin from the next financial year, 2025-2026. Following closure of mining activities, the State borrowed around 1,500 crore from the open market and the ten year term of repayment is set to commence from the coming fiscal.
Based on recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission (XV-FC), the annual normal Net Borrowing Ceiling (NBC) of all States has been fixed at 3 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) for financial year 2023-24 and 2024-25. In addition, State Governments may also avail additional borrowing of up to 0.50% of GSDP based on certain performance criteria in the power sector.
According to the Budget estimate, the State was expected to borrow around Rs 2,835 crore for FY 2024-25.
The data further reveals that in the last fiscal, the State borrowed Rs 2,550 crore as against the set target of Rs 3,300 crore. The borrowings are basically to fund the revenue gap to boost economic and development growth.
In a bid to meet the revenue and expenditure gap, the State was bound to borrow funds for the developmental works and also towards salaries, pensions and other welfare schemes, a senior official said while maintaining that the borrowings, for last two-three years, have remained well within the limit.
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.
As reported earlier, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s report titled ‘State Finances: A study of Budgets of 2023-24’, Goa’s gross fiscal deficit increased by more than 785 per cent in the last two decades, since 2004-05, as the State’s outstanding debt stood at Rs 34,758 crore by end of March 2024.
State has relied on borrowings that have pushed Goa's outstanding liabilities from Rs 4,417 crore in 2005 to Rs 31,758 crore in 2023 and further to Rs 34,758 crore by end of financial year 2023-24
