THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Comptroller and Auditor General, lending credence to Finance Minister K M Mani’s observation that the state finances under the LDF rule were not in good shape, has pulled up the state for shoddy fiscal discipline.“During the current year, the revenue deficit increased to Rs 5,023 crore from Rs 3,712 crore of the previous fiscal, an increase of Rs 1,311 crore,’’ the Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India on State Finances, which was tabled in the Assembly on Tuesday, noted.The report attributes this unsustainable scale up of revenue deficit to a disproportionate growth in revenue expenditure (10.3 percent) in relation to revenue receipts (6.5 percent).“The government has to make efforts to realise arrears of revenue amounting to Rs 4,422.81 crore so that the revenue deficit can be reduced to a considerable extent,’’ the report notes.The CAG report is especially critical of the State Government for not adhering to the targets set by the Twelfth Finance Commission (TFC).However, the State Government in its latest Medium Term Fiscal Plan presented in the Assembly last February had said that the revenue deficit would be eliminated and fiscal deficit would be brought down to 3.25 per cent as mandated by the TFC by the end of the 2010-11 fiscal.“In order to achieve these targets, the government needs to mobilise additional resources both through tax and non-tax sources, make efforts to collect revenue arrears and prune unproductive expenditure in the coming years,’’ the report notes.The report laments the pale growth of revenue receipts or income that does not create any liability in future such as sales tax, VAT, luxury tax, land tax, building tax, excise and stamp duties, vehicle tax and agriculture income tax.
Comments
0 comment