According to Kerala’s Finance Minister KN Balagopal, the state is in a ‘growth phase’ and is positioned for excellent development in the infrastructure, industrial, and services sectors, which would increase job prospects.
He said that despite worries about the state’s financial stability, revenue generation made a ‘giant leap’ to Rs 71,000 crore in the most recent fiscal year but that a cash shortage has been caused by the central government’s ‘step motherly’ approach.
In a PTI interview, Balagopal used reports from several organisations, including the most current Fitch Ratings, to support his claim that the “state is now going through a very good economic growth phase.”
The BJP-led Centre’s actions on the fiscal front, particularly the claimed delay in transferring GST payments and restrictions on the state’s ability to raise money, have been criticised in recent months by Kerala, a Left-ruled state.
The second Pinarayi Vijayan government, which came to power in 2021, has made a significant increase in state-owned tax revenue (SOTR), according to the minister, who was speaking in reference to the measures taken by the finance department for better revenue generation. He claimed that this was a sign of Kerala’s economic growth.
Senior state CPI (M) leader Balagopal slammed the BJP-led central government, claiming it was depriving Kerala of its rightful shares of various resources and resulting in a severe cash crisis.
The outlook on the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) was recently changed by Fitch Ratings from negative to stable.
Various agencies including Fitch Ratings ‘assessed the financial position of the state, and they calculated how revenue generation is happening, how investment capital generation is happening, and how debts are coming down. There is a very notable improvement in all these areas post-covid-19,’ the minister stated.
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