Bhubaneswar: Amid shortfall in revenue collection, the state government has decided to go for massive borrowing to mobilise funds required in the battle against Covid-19, Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy said here Wednesday.
This decision was taken at the Council of Ministers meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Wednesday.
Briefing media persons about the decisions, Tripathy said that at this time, the most important priority of the government is to save lives. Finance department has presented a detail proposal titled ‘Life before Everything Else’ before the council.
“The revenue collection has gone down and the fund flow from Centre will also be affected due to the pandemic. Therefore, the state government has decided to go for market borrowing to meet the capital requirement,” Tripathy said.
While allowing the states to borrow up to 5 per cent of the gross state domestic product (GSDP) for this fiscal year instead of the existing 3 per cent, the Centre has set certain conditions for the states. The state government has started working for implementation of the reforms to enhance the limit, he said, adding, “Now, we can borrow upto 3.5 per cent of the GSDP as there is no restriction and government will go for it.”
The state has so far borrowed nearly Rs 95k crore including Rs 4830 crore in this fiscal.
During the meeting, the council was apprised about the present Covid situation in the state and steps taken in this effect. The state government has so far utilized over Rs 1,900 crore for Covid management.
While Rs 624 crore was spent from State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), Rs 340 crore from Chief Minister Relief Fund (CMRF), Rs 875 crore by Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and Rs 73 crore from MLA LAD fund.
