PANAJI
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday told the Goa Legislative Assembly that borrowings this pandemic-hit fiscal had topped Rs 2,300 crore but the figure was below all other States.
Responding to Opposition criticism on high borrowings during the debate on passage of the Appropriation Bbill related to supplementary demands for grants, Sawant pledged in the House to bring down the loan component of government finances in the next financial year.
The Appropriation Bill was later passed by a voice vote.
MGP's Sudin Dhavlikar raised alarm over negligible expenditure by the government on the 'capital account' indicating that very little if any spending actually went into creating infrastructural assets.
Dhavlikar advised the government to consider 'squaring up' older, high interest rate bearing loans to ensure the State's interest burden is reduced.
He said, lending rates have sharply fallen and the State can take advantage by arranging with RBI to 'square up' old high interest loans.
Some other members, including Rohan Khaunte, accused the government of using the pandemic affecting revenues as a bogey.
Khaunte said, if revenues had been hit, the pandemic was also cited by the government to stop payments and expenditure especially in PWD contracts.
