Off-budget borrowings have landed the State government in trouble with the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) yet again with the latter painting a bleak picture of the State finances and noting that such borrowings through the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) and Kerala Social Security Pension Ltd (KSSPL) have jacked up the State's overall debt by over ₹16,000 crore.
In its State finances audit report for the year ended March 2021 tabled in the Assembly on Wednesday, the CAG notes that the overall fiscal liabilities of the State rose by 62.51% from ₹1,89,769 crore in 2016-17 to ₹3,08,386.01 crore. Adding to this the KIIFB and the KSSPL's outstanding liability of ₹16,469.05 crore, the overall debt went up to ₹3,24,855.06 crore in 2020-21.
Effective total public debt stands at₹3,19,089.06 crore as the Department of Expenditure, Government of India, had decided that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) compensation of ₹5,766 crore given to the State as back-to-back loan will not be treated as debt of the State.
