Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac on Monday told the Opposition that the only criticism they could honestly level against him was that he was yet to save the State from the financial ruin the previous United Democratic Front (UDF) government had brought about owing to its misrule.
Replying to the debate on The Kerala Finance Bill, 2018, Dr. Isaac said he had got rid of the various surcharges on liquor to save on income tax. The Central government exacted income tax on all duties, except sales tax.
He said he had not encountered a more corporate-minded Union Finance Minister than P. Chidambaram. He had executed the former Congress government’s economic policy, which made it easier for the likes of Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi, both big defaulters, to get loans than State governments or public sector units. The Bharathiya Janata Party’s economic policy was no different than that of its predecessor.
He justified the high salary paid to Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) staff by stating that he needed persons with proven experience and integrity to muster funds from the open market. “Managing the bond market is not always a job for a bureaucrat,” he said.
Mr. Isaac asked the Opposition to decide whether to improve infrastructure and improve social security now rather than wait for a distant time when the State’s finances would perhaps become rosier.
Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said Dr. Isaac had attempted financial wizardry and failed miserably. His KIIFB project was a non-starter. Dr. Isaac was trying to hoodwink people into believing that money and investment would flood into the State. His clever jugglery of statistics would not stand legislative scrutiny.
