The State’s Debt Stock, which was Rs 38,666.24 crore on March 31, 2014 has declined to Rs 38,398.32 crore by the end of September 2014, said sources in the Finance Department, pointing out that in a span of six months the burden has been reduced by an extent of Rs 267.92 crore.
The fact that the Debt Stock is diminishing suggests that the State Government has succeeded in managing its debt within the ambit of a sustainable level, the sources claimed.
An analysis of the State’s finance for the first half of 2014-15 (April-September) made by the Department of Finance (DoF) reveals that the total Debt Stock constitutes 11.62 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP).
“This is far below the Thirteenth Finance Commission stipulation of the prescribed limit of 29.5 per cent of the Odisha GSDP, which is Rs 3,25,000 crore,” said a DoF official.
However, as the revenue collection is registering a declining trend, the State Government has decided to pursue an aggressive agenda for optimisation of its generation so that it would be able to create a sufficient space for an increased investment in the infrastructure and social sectors, he said.
ACS Finance UN Behera has written to the Secretaries of all departments to gear up for revenue generation as the thrust is for spending more on the Capital Outlay.
The State’s own revenue earnings have registered a lower growth of 2.12 per cent lagging behind the projected annual growth of 14.15 per cent, said sources quoting figures from the analysis which reveals that while the State’s own revenue growth was 7.55 per cent during April-September of 2013-14, it is only 5.43 per cent this year.
The State’s own nontax revenue has posted a negative growth of 17.43 per cent and the negative growth on this front is primarily attributable to the decline in collection of revenue from the mining sector, said the analysis.
“This is a cause of concern and calls for corrective actions to at least meet the Budget estimate,” feels a senior DoF official.
In contrast, the performance on the expenditure front is encouraging. Compared to the corresponding period of the previous financial year, the expenditure during the first half of 2014-15 is Rs 26,479.82 crore registering a growth of 38.08 per cent.
While the actual Non-Plan expenditure is Rs 14,114.45 crore at the end of the first half of the fiscal, the growth is 22.23 per cent over the corresponding period of the previous year.
The Plan expenditure, which includes State Plan, Central Plan and Centrally Sponsored Projects (CSP) during this period, is Rs 12,365.37 crore, which is 31.36 per cent of the Budget estimate.
And the total revenue expenditure is Rs 21,986.85 crore, which is 34.79 per cent of the net Budget estimate.
The Capital Expenditure is Rs 4,425.85 crore registering a growth of a whopping 69.90 per cent compared to first half of 2013-14.