the goan I network
PANAJI
First it was businesses and industry that suffered the brunt of Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, which ironically was hailed as a major economic reform but which bled the economy into a seeming recession.
Now, it is the turn of the State to feel the pinch where it hurts most - the pockets (coffers).
Finance ministry officials have confirmed that the Goa government has received GST compensation far below the levels it had projected in its finance planning.
The State has received just Rs 132 crore from the Centre for the last two months of 2019 - November and December - which is almost half (52 per-cent) of the projected Rs 250 crore compensation it had expected to get.Officials said nationwide shortfall in GST collections owing to the recessionary tail winds will mean the quantum of compensation the State will get from the Centre under the new GST regime is unlikely to recover very soon.
The delay in disbursing the compensation to States by the Centre has also impeded the cash flow of the State government which has often come under severe criticism from Opposition as well as commentators for resorting to borrowings liberally.
In fact, the State is hoping to raise Rs 75 crore from auction of State government securities through the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on February 25. The SLR borrowing has to be annually restricted to 3 per-cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) which the State does but the rising graph of the State debt has been worrying officials in the finance ministry for the last couple of years.
The State’s total public debt, according to the budget presented earlier this month by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant is expected to cross the Rs 17,952 crore by
March 2021
