If they had borrowed Rs1.87 lakh crore in 34 years of their rule, the Mamata Banerjee Government — which has all these years been crying hoarse against the CPI(M)’s penchant for borrowing and leaving a burden on the future Government — has borrowed more than 60 per cent of that amount in four years of its being in power, Bengal’s Marxist Opposition has said.
State Opposition leader Suryakanto Mishra on Tuesday ridiculed the Chief Minister for crying hoarse against the “so-called huge loan left by the left Front Government.”
But in reality “as per their Budget declarations they have borrowed Rs1.12 lakh crore in four years of their rule while we had borrowed Rs1.87 crore in 34 years,” he said wondering “to what would huge amount that rate of borrowing would lead the State to in 34 years.”
However, refuting Mishra’s allegations Finance Minister Amit Mitra said much of these loans were taken to repay the principal amount of the earlier loan taken by the left Government.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had for long been asking the Centre to restructure the debt regime and give a few years’ moratorium in loan repayment as “it is unwise to force a successor Government bear the burden of whatever wrong that has been committed by an earlier Government.”