The State government has kick-started the process to present a full budget as the vote-on-account presented by the previous government lapses on July 31. The most “worrying aspect” before the YSRCP government now is the huge gap between the net estimated receipts and the net estimated expenditure.
According to information, the government requires ₹40,000 crore, which is in addition to net revenue, to make both ends meet this fiscal. The net revenue is far below the net estimated expenditure of ₹2.38 lakh crore.
Committed expenditure
The immediate option before the government is to cut down the capital and other expenditures, apart from augmenting the revenue resources. The total committed budget expenditure, which includes interest payments, salaries and wages, pensions and subsidies, stands at ₹1.47 lakh crore.
According to sources, the government will have to scale down other budgeted expenditure, including capital expenditure. “The challenge is to create a fiscal space of more than ₹39,800 crore. In addition, the government will have to create space for implementing the new schemes such as Rythu Bharosa and Amma Vodi,” says an official.
The budget estimates on receipts for the financial year 2019-20 stand at ₹2.25 lakh crore. Of this, it is expected that there will be a shortfall of ₹26,720 crore, which takes the net estimated receipts to ₹1.98 lakh crore. On other hand, the budget estimates on expenditure stand at ₹2.26 lakh crore, including the capital expenditure of more than ₹30,800 crore.