Senior TDP leader Yanamala Ramakrishnudu on Saturday demanded a public debate on the “deepening financial crisis” in the State.
In a statement, Mr. Ramakrishnudu said people of the State deserved to know every detail of the “massive loans” availed by the YSRCP government and the “rising levels of poverty.”
The former Finance Minister said people should know the factors that were leading to “economic bankruptcy” of the State that had been suffering on account of “excessive loans, populism, increase in the level of poverty, drop in investments, growing unemployment, and overall retrogression in every sector.”
‘Economic disparity’
The level of economic disparity had risen from 38% to 43% during the YSRCP term so far, and there was a drop in the per capita income by 1.4%. The savings of the poorer sections had dwindled like never before as taxes were being increased and freebies withdrawn.
The “forcible collection of money under the One-Time Settlement (OTS) scheme” had added to their woes, Mr. Ramakrishnudu said.
Expressing concern over rise in off-budget borrowings above the market loans, he said the capital expenditure on productive assets had come down alarmingly.
Rude jolt
He further blamed the “wrong policies” of the government for an alarming rise in the overall debt to ₹7 lakh crore in just two-and-a- half years. “The GDSP dropping to 2.58% in 2020-21 is a rude jolt,” the former Finance Minister observed.
“The poor are the worst-hit by the misrule,” he said, adding they were finding it difficult to make ends meet in the wake of increasing prices of essential commodities and reduced income. Inflation had touched a whopping 14.2% and the State was positioned in the 20th place in the multi-dimensional poverty index, Mr. Ramakrishnudu said.
Reiterating his demand for a public debate on key issues such as revenue deficit, fiscal deficit, spending on welfare schemes, per capita income and the prevailing economic imbalance, he said people had the right to know the facts.
