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SPENDING TO PROSPER (2015-16)
* Seven times more spending on public works in 2015-16
* Spending on energy was more than three times
* Nearly double spending on transport, education, etc
* State Govt almost meeta its target on capital outlay
* For 2016-17, capital outlay target at Rs 3,424 crore
* Capital outlay growth will improve quality of various sectors
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PANAJI: The state government has spent more than double on capital outlay in 2015-16 compared to 2014-15, as per the budget estimates. Huge spendings on public works, energy, transport, education, sports and water-supply have accounted for this growth.
This is a good sign as such tremendous growth in capital outlay will improve the quality of aforementioned sectors in the long run. What differentiates capital outlay from revenue expense is the former brings benefit in long run, while the latter is for minor day to day repairs.
As per the information in the budget documents, the state government spent a whopping seven times on public works in 2015-16 compared to previous year, the spending on energy was more than three times, the spending on transport, water-supply, sanitation, education and sports nearly doubled.
Interestingly, the state government couldn’t meet its target on either revenue deficit or fiscal deficit in 2015-16, but it almost met its target on capital outlay.
In the previous year’s budget speech, chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar had estimated a capital outlay of Rs 3,121 crores for 2015-16. In this year’s budget, he revised that number to Rs 2,904 crores, which is only marginally lesser.
For the next year 2016-17, the state government has kept the capital outlay even higher at Rs 3,424 crores.
That’s where the challenge is. The state government will have to get its deficit in control sooner than later, or else it can’t go on increasing its capital outlay forever without having to borrow more.
