PANAJI
The State government has spent a whopping Rs 3,366 crore on day-to-day expenses in the first five months of the current financial year 2015-16, while it spent a mere Rs 408 crore on long-term asset creation in the same time period.
This information that was accessed by The Goan under Right To Information (RTI) proves that the problem that has been affecting Goa’s finances in the previous years continues to prevail in this year as well.
In its reply, the State government stated that it has spent Rs 3,366 crore on revenue expenditure between April-August 2015, while it spent Rs 408 crore on capital expenditure during the same period.
In layman terms, revenue expenditure is the amount that is spent on upkeep and maintenance of present infrastructure that mainly includes salaries and pensions of staff and other repair work, while capital expenditure refers to the expenses towards creating new infrastructure such as roads, bridges, etc.
The fact that the government spent more than eight times on revenue expenditure than what it spent on capital expenditure clearly indicates that the State is saddled with numerous obligations, with not much leeway to invest.
Several infrastructure projects are currently underway in the State, like the new Mandovi bridge, Western bypass project in Margao and construction of the missing link between Verna Industrial Estate and Loutolim.
Less capital expenditure also means that the progress of these projects might get hampered, thereby stretching its completion deadline.
Time and again, concerns have been raised that almost everyone in Goa seeks a government job, while lamenting the dearth of opportunities in the private sector. And much of the workforce in the government sector is unproductive. Therefore, the government is under a constant pressure to spend for its staff on its payrolls, thus pushing up the revenue expenditure and in turn leaving little scope on creating assets.
The RTI reply also stated that the State government borrowed Rs 984 crore between April-November last year as compared to Rs 1,267 crore it borrowed during FY 2014-15. If Rs 984 crore for eight months of the current financial year is annualised, it is poised to touch Rs 1,475 crore, which clearly shows that the State government is well on its way to borrow much more this year than it borrowed last year.
Borrowing, per se, isn’t a problem, but it is evident that the government spends a considerable amount on day-to-day revenue expenditure than on creating infrastructure for future, which clearly shows that borrowings aren’t being utilised in the best possible way.
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MONEY-WISE?
- Govt spent Rs 3,366 crore on revenue expenditure between April-August 2015, while spending Rs 408 crore on capital expenditure during the same period
- It also borrowed Rs 984 crore between April-November last year as compared to Rs 1,267 crore during FY 2014-15.
- If Rs 984 crore for eight months of the current financial year is annualised, it is poised to touch Rs 1,475 crore, which clearly shows that the govt could end up borrowing much more than last year
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Month Revenue Expenditure (Rs cr) Capital Expenditure (Rs cr)
April 2015 774.4 51.9
May 2015 681.6 86.9
June 2015 640.3 98.2
July 2015 629.0 111.0
August 2015 640.9 60.1
(All figures accessed under RTI)
