Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari on Thursday tabled the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India Report on the Finances of the Government of Odisha and the financial performance of the State during 2019-20.
The report was structured into four chapters, Overview, Finances of the State, Budgetary Management and Quality of Accounts & Financial Reporting Practices. According to the report, the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) in 2019-20 at current prices was Rs 5,33,822 crore, registering a growth of 7.66% over the previous year.The largest contribution to the GSDP was made by the services sector at 36.47% followed closely by the industry sector’s 35.65% while the agriculture sector’s share was 17.91%. The State recorded a Revenue Surplus of Rs 2,430 crore and a Fiscal Deficit of Rs 18,819 crore. The Fiscal Deficit at 3.53% of the GSDP was higher than the fiscal target of 3.50% of GSDP.The Primary Deficit of Rs 12,756 crore increased significantly by 193% compared to Rs 4,357 crore in 2018-19 . This indicated that the non-debt receipts were not sufficient to meet the Primary Expenditure.However, the Outstanding Debt to the GSDP ratio was 23.62% in 2019-20, thus meeting the fiscal target of 25%.
Of the Total Expenditure (Rs 1,20,673 crore) in 2019-20, 16.80% was made up of Capital Expenditure of Rs 20,277 crore.Revenue Receipts in 2019-20 grew by Rs 2,022 crore (2.03%) over 2018-19 (Rs 99,546 crore). However, these were lower than the budget estimates (Rs 1,15,266 crore) by Rs 13,698 crore.Own Tax Revenue (Rs 2,315 crore) increased by 6.59% over the previous year but was less than the budget estimates (Rs 33,000 crore) by Rs 685 crore. Non-Tax Revenue (Rs 14,647 crore) increased by 2.59% over the previous year and was higher than the budget estimates (Rs 14,277 crore) by Rs 370 crore.
There was a fall in the Capital Expenditure (Rs 20,277 crore) during 2019-20 and this decreased by Rs 3,205 crore (13.65%) from the previous year.The total expenditure relative to GSDP was better than the General Category States. Odisha fared favourably in its focus on Development Expenditure, Social Services Expenditure, Economic Services Expenditure and Capital Expenditure.
The State’s outstanding debt (Rs 68,438 crore) increased by 17.48% in 2019-20 over the preceding year at a rate higher than the growth rate of GSDP. Interest payment relative to revenue receipts at 5.97% was, however, well below the targets fixed by the State’s FRBM (Amendment) Act, 2016 and the 14th Finance Commission.