PANJIM: Though the Coronavirus pandemic is yet to take a toll on the economy, the Government of Goa appears to have run out of cash as it has again notified the sale of government stocks worth Rs 144 crore.
A notification issued by Finance Secretary Daulat Hawaldar says, “As part of the Government of India’s approved planned borrowing for the State for the year 2019-20, the Government of Goa has offered to sell stocks (securities) of 10-year tenure of an aggregate amount of Rs 144 crore.”
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It further says that the stocks will be sold in Mumbai on March 23.
With this notification, the total borrowings of the State will touch nearly Rs 2,600 crore.
The Opposition, during the last Legislative Assembly Session had cornered the Chief Minister over the extensive borrowings. The State debt was estimated between Rs 19,000 and Rs 21,000 crore as per replies on the Floor of the House.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has also expressed apprehensions that debt repayment can strain the government’s budgets in the future, and suggested that it work out a strategy to avoid a debt trap. It had observed that ‘much of the fresh debt was being used to repay earlier liabilities’.
