?Velagapudi: AP Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu on Thursday said the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime will not hurt the interests of the State in any manner. In an interaction with a section of the media ahead of his budget presentation scheduled on March 13 in the Assembly, he said, instead, the cash-strapped state government is eagerly looking up to the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime for a better slice in the cake. “Basically our state is a consumer state.
In addition, AP with a low tax revenue collection status during 2014-15 (below 14 per cent) is entitled adequate share in GST,” he said. “Although we are at loss in terms of fiscal autonomy like any other state after the advent of the GST, the new tax regime will act against evasion of taxes, leading to shore up the revenue share of the states,” the FM said.
Ramakrishnudu was getting ready, doing a lot of homework for his feat, took his time off from his busy schedule to share his piece mind over salient features of the budget with the media in his chambers at the transit secretariat. The Finance Ministry is making preparations to distribute soft copies of the budget uploaded in tabs, each costing Rs 25,000, to all the 176 members in the Assembly and 58 members in the Legislative Council.
He hinted that growing revenue deficit and public debt are inescapable features of his annual budget. Caught in a web of welfare-development conflict, severe financial constraints, and compulsions driven by identity politics, Ramakrishnudu, a law graduate who served as a Finance Minister for several times in the TDP regime, was giving finishing touches to the budget.
The FM said the State’s revenue deficit is expected to touch 3.5 per cent in ratio of State Gross Domestic Product (GSDP) as against the limit of 3.1 per cent enforced by the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act (FRBMA) while public debts may reach Rs 1.5 lakh crore from Rs 1.35 lakh crore in the previous financial year.
“Of course, the State has been reeling under severe resource crunch and financial difficulties. But our government is committed for both welfare and development,” FM said with a promise to ensure adequate allocations for the welfare of the BC, SC, ST and minority welfare without hurting development. It is proposed to establish an authority to help micro, small and medium enterprises sector bounce back from crisis.
