Congress Govt continues borrowing spree; To seek Rs 10,000 crore through market borrowings

The State government already raised around Rs.37,500 crore till November end through auction of the State government securities by RBI and is seeking to raise additional loans over the next four months as the State revenues are not promising.

Hyderabad: With a sharp decline in revenue receipts from Rs.99,775.12 crore in October 2023 to Rs.90,844.45 crore in October this year, the State government is learnt to have decided to raise upto Rs.10,000 crore through market borrowings additionally for the current financial year of 2024-25. Officials have reportedly submitted proposals to the union Finance Ministry for approval to this extent.

Though the State government initially proposed to raise Rs.57,112.48 crore through market borrowings in the budget estimates for the current financial year, the union Finance Ministry has fixed the limit at Rs.49,255 crore. The State government already raised around Rs.37,500 crore till November end through auction of the State government securities by RBI and is seeking to raise additional loans over the next four months as the State revenues are not promising.

---

For the third quarter (October-December 2024), the Centre gave approval to raise Rs.7,400 crore and accordingly, around Rs.6,500 crore were raised till November end. The government is left with little space to raise another Rs.900 crore in December as per the RBI approval, which the officials fear, would not suffice the State’s monthly needs amid poor revenue collections and growing expenditure.

Under these circumstances, the State government is learnt to have sought to revise the budget estimates and draw Rs.10,000 crore in December itself. If approved, the market borrowings in December alone will account for nearly 20 per cent of the budget estimates for the current fiscal. It would also shoot up the borrowing limit of Rs.49,255 crore fixed by the union Finance Ministry.

Except for July where it borrowed Rs.10,392.71 crore, the State government has maintained an average borrowing rate of Rs.4,500 crore every month through auction of the government securities.

Under the Congress rule of one year, Telangana’s debt has ballooned at an alarming rate in Telangana. The Revanth Reddy government has added nearly Rs.80,000 crore to the State’s debt – surpassing the Rs.72,658 crore accumulated over 58 years of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh. The Congress government has guaranteed loans worth nearly Rs.30,000 crore to corporations over the last 12 months, adding to its financial woes.

Officials are holding the expenditure on crop loan waiver amounting to Rs.18,000 crore as a primary reason for the increased market borrowings. However, they also admitted declining revenue collections and increased expenditure as causes for the increasing debt.