Projects Rs 144.7 Crore Revenue Surplus For 2018-19 Fiscal

PORVORIM: Notwithstanding the expected closure of Goa’s mining industry, a mainstay of the state’s economy, chief minister Manohar Parrikar projected a revenue surplus budget for the fifth year in succession.
In his annual financial statement for 2018-19, Parrikar on Thursday said his government expects to show a revenue surplus of Rs 144.7 crore.

The chief minister also indicated that the public debt to the gross state domestic product (GSDP) ratio was expected to be sharply lower at 18.06% in the 2018-19 fiscal, as against 23.88% for 2017-18 as mentioned in the economic survey report for the current financial year.

The reduction in the debt to GSDP ratio is despite the nominal increase in public debt, which is projected to increase to Rs 13,937 crore in 2018-19 from Rs 13,203 crore for the current fiscal.

“In this year, the state’s economy is estimated to be Rs 77,171 crore, which reveals a growth of 10%,” the finance ministry headed by Parrikar stated in a note.

Parrikar has increased the allocation for capital expenditure by 10.7% over the Rs 3,808.7 crore expense incurred in 2017-18.

Among the other fiscal parameters that appear to be improving is the fiscal deficit which is expected to be at Rs 763.7 crore in 2018-19 as against the Rs 827.4 crore in 2017-18.

The chief minister, in his brief budget speech, projected an increase in tax revenue from the state and the Centre. “The state’s own tax revenue, including state share of central taxes, is Rs 8,257 crore as against Rs 7,351 crore estimated last year,” Parrikar said. “The state’s share of central taxes for 2018-19 is Rs 2,979 crore as against Rs 2,544 crore for this financial year, representing an increase of 17%.”

The economic survey for 2017-18, which was released on Wednesday in the legislative assembly, observed that the state’s public debt was “continuously rising” but the debt to GSDP ratio was on the decline since 2016.