The Manohar lal Khattar Government will establish a new non-banking financial company namely Haryana State Financial Services ltd. to act as an in-house treasury manager for efficient management of surplus funds of public enterprises, autonomous bodies and other State entities.
The company is expected to become operational in the first quarter of 2018-19, said the Finance Minister Capt. Abhimanyu. He said that the State Government has also decided to restructure its State Subordinate Accounts Services and Audit cadre, to promote highest standards of professional competence in areas of accounting and auditing.
For this purpose, the Institute of Public Auditors of India, Chandigarh is conducting a study. This would facilitate the cadre to do their job in a more professional manner and eventually result in better management of State Finances in Government Departments as well as Public Sector Enterprises, said he. Capt. Abhimanyu further said that the State Government has set up Swarna Jayanti Haryana Institute for Fiscal Management to provide structured training and research programmes for Government officers and officials in the areas of public finance policy, financial management and financial administration, with specific focus on taxation, budgeting, financial planning, audit and accounts management procedures and policy issues.
A Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Coordination Centre is also being set up as a part of the institute with the support of UNDP, to implement the Vision 2030 based on the SDG in Haryana.
To further promote financial discipline, he said that, the State Government would make major procedural change by allowing Departments and public sector undertakings including autonomous bodies to operate only one or two major bank accounts with effect from April 2018. This, inter alia, means that all the remaining bank accounts would have to be consolidated into one or two accounts for efficient utilisation of funds by every Department, Board, Corporation, Authority, he added. The Finance Minister said that the State Government has made considerable progress in Treasury Management through implementation of Integrated Financial Management System and Public Finance Management System for online monitoring of flow of funds from Government to end user on a real time basis.
Notably, Haryana Government had proposed no fresh tax in its fourth budget for 2018-19, while keeping its size at Rs 1.15 lakh crore with focus on raising expenditure in key sectors including agriculture, education, health, industry and skill development. In the Budget presented on last Friday, the revenue deficit has been projected at Rs 8,253.51 crore for 2018-19 as against revised estimates Rs 8,226.17 crore for 2017-18 while the fiscal deficit is projected at Rs 19,399.34 crore as against Rs 17,240.45 crore in 2017-18.