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Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai speaking in the Legislative Assembly in Bengaluru on Friday.
Dismissing Opposition allegations, Chief Minister Basvaraj Bommai on Friday asserted that 293 of the 390 Budget announcements made last year had been implemented. “While 48 programmes are policy related, only seven have not been implemented. The remaining are at various stages of the tender process,” he said.
Replying to the debate on the State Budget in the Legislative Council, the Chief Minister said 90% of the Budget expenditure would be spent by the end of this financial year. “Going by the current tax collection, I am confident that the last year’s Budget (2022-2023) would also be a surplus Budget,” he said.
Defending the high borrowings (debts) this year, the Chief Minister said the pandemic had hit the State’s finances. “Despite the reduction in tax collection, administrative expenses, including salaries of government employees, had to be paid. We also had to come to the aid of people, whose livelihood was affected due to lockdowns in the pandemic. Hence, taking loans was inevitable,” he explained.
Pointing out that the Centre had given a loan to the State through the RBI, Mr. Bommai said: “Unlike other States, we did not introduce salary cuts or delayed payments to our employees. A State’s debt limit is based on its Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). Although our GSDP is higher this year, our borrowings have not crossed 3%. If we compare our fiscal deficit during COVID and non-COVID years, we have kept our deficit within our limits. In fact, compared to other States our fiscal deficit is the lowest.”
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