Quite contrary to the tall claims made to bring Punjab out of the fiscal mess five years back, the five-year Congress rule pushed the state further into vicious debt trap, says a latest report by the Comptroller Auditor General (CAG) tabled in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha on Wednesday.
As per the the State of Finances Report for the financial year 2020-21, it was found that the outstanding total debt of the state was Rs 2,49,673 crore (47.13 per cent of Gross State Domestic Product) as on March 31, 2021. In just four years of the Congress rule, between 2017-18 and 2020-21, the states debt increased by Rs 54,521 crore.
Total debt of the state government typically constitutes internal debt of the state (market loans, ways and means advances from the RBI, special securities issued to National Small Savings Fund and loans from financial institutions, etc.), loans and advances from the Central Government, and public account liabilities.