PANAJI
Despite the Goa government exceeding the target debt-to-Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) ratio of 25 per cent in all five years from 2019 to 2024, the State's debt burden remains substantial relative to its economic output. However, the situation indicates financial vulnerability and reduced fiscal flexibility, according to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in its latest report.
According to CAG’s State Finances Report 2023-24 tabled on the Floor of the House, the State’s total outstanding debt at the end of March 2024 worked out to be Rs 33,573 crore, ratio of total outstanding debt to GSDP stands at 29.93 per cent.
CAG noted that the State registered revenue surplus in three out of five years from 2019 to 2024, with the maximum surplus of Rs 2,400 cr reported in 2022-23, which reduced to Rs 1,423 cr in 2023-24. The fiscal deficit was within the permissible limit in all years from 2019 to 2024.
“The State government had breached the target of debt-GSDP ratio of 25 per cent in all five years from 2019 to 2024. The Debt-GSDP ratio remained more than 30 per cent from 2019 to 2023 but decreased below 30 per cent in 2023-24. High debt to GSDP ratio signifies that the State’s burden is substantial compared to its economic output and indicates financial vulnerability and reduced fiscal flexibility,” CAG said.
According to the Auditor, the GSDP (at current prices) grew from Rs 75,032 crore in 2019-20 to Rs 1,06,533 crore in 2023-24, which indicates growth of 13.73 per cent in GSDP over the previous year, 2022-23. The State’s own tax revenue increased by 11.49 per cent during 2023-24 over the previous year.
“The total expenditure (revenue expenditure, capital expenditure and loans and advances) of the State of Goa increased from Rs 18,313 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 20,423 crore, registering an increase of 11.52 per cent over the previous year,” the report stated.
CAG noted that between 2019-20 and 2023-24, revenue expenditure increased from Rs 11,622 crore (15 per cent of GSDP) to Rs 16,849 crore (16 per cent of GSDP), while capital expenditure, which is primarily an expenditure on creation of fixed infrastructure assets such as roads, buildings, etc. increased from Rs 1,660 crore in 2019-20 to Rs 3,571 crore in 2023-24.
Under the revenue expenditure, the quantum of committed expenditure constitutes the largest share. Committed expenditure has the first charge on the resources and consists of interest payments, expenditure on salaries and wages and pensions.
Committed expenditure on interest payments, salaries and pensions constituted 49 to 52 per cent of revenue expenditure during 2019-20 and 2023-24. The committed expenditure increased from Rs 5,725 crore in 2019-20 to Rs 8,257 crore in 2023-24.
From 2019-20 to 2023-24, revenue receipts grew by 62 per cent from Rs 11,297 crore to Rs 18,272 crore. Comparatively, capital receipts which consisted mostly of public debt receipts, registered an increase of Rs 1,452 crore, from Rs 2,704 crore to Rs 4,156 crore during 2019-24.
The fiscal deficit of the State increased to Rs 2,148 crore (2.02 per cent of GSDP) in 2023-24 from Rs 1,994 crore (2.66 per cent of GSDP) in 2019-20.
