VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has affirmed that the economy of AP is now performing better than the term of the previous TD government and of many other states.
Lambasting the Opposition and its friendly media for painting the state’s financial management under the YSRC rule in a poor light, Jagan gave a power-point presentation in the assembly on Friday, citing facts and figures, during a short discussion on ‘Industrial Development, Investments-Financial Growth in the State’.
The CM said that in 2018-19, the GDP of the state was 5.36% and on this count, it was in the 21st place among states. “Now AP is at 6th place and we are top in the country in terms of growth rate.”
Jagan said a concerted effort was being made by Chandrababu Naidu and his friendly media to show the state “in dire straits”, comparing it to Sri Lanka. In reality, AP’s growth rate is very rosy and encouraging. Braving Covid, we are balancing welfare and development. The state’s performance is far better than that of the previous government and even in terms of national average, the CM claimed.
Jagan gave graphic details of the comparative figures on GDP, loans taken, government guarantees and other indices to show the financial management under him was excellent.
He said only four states recorded a growth in GDP and AP joined hands with Manipur, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu in this respect. “According to CAG reports, the debt at the time of bifurcation in 2014 was of Rs 1,20,556 crore, which increased to Rs 2,69,462 crore during the TD term till May 2019. This showed that in five years, the state debt increased by 123.52 per cent under Naidu’s tutelage.
“In the month of May 2019, the debts incurred by the TD government rose to Rs 2,69,462 crore. In the three years of the YSRC rule, till March this year, the government debt rose from this level to Rs 3,82,165 crore, which was only 41.83 per cent in three years,” Jagan said.
“This means that the rate of debt increase in the three years after our government came to power is less than of the previous government.”
Explaining about government guarantees, Jagan said that as of 2014, during bifurcation, the loans taken by state PSUs with government guarantee was of Rs 14,028.23 crore. “In May 2019, when the Chandrababu government exited, the outstanding loans made with government guarantee were of Rs 59,257.31 crore.”
As a result, the total loans of the previous government were Rs 3,28,719 crore. This meant the loans increased by 144.25 per cent in those five years. In terms of CAGR, the increase in the state debt in those five years was of 19.55 per cent. “In these three years, as of March this year, the total of government guaranteed loans was Rs 1,17,730.33 crore,” the CM explained.
This meant the total loans of the state government in these three years was Rs 4,99,895 crore. In other words, the state debt increased by 52.07 per cent, which was very less compared to the TD term, Jagan noted.
He said the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2014-15 was Rs 124 lakh crore and the central debt was Rs 62,42,220 crore. "In the year 2021-22, the GDP is Rs 236,64,636 crore, while the total debt is Rs 135,88,193 crore, which shows the country faced trouble."
Jagan said, “The Gang of Four that follows the principle of plunder, stash and devouring (dochuko, dachuko, thinuko) has started a vicious campaign to defame the YSRC government. The people need to know the facts. When the budget sizes of the previous government and our government are almost the same and the loans we have taken are less than that of the TD term, why could he not carry out the welfare schemes we are now implementing,” he asked.
