Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy Presents deficit budget for fiscal 2019-20.

 SMTV Desk 2019-02-09 13:05:38   H.D. Kumaraswamy,Karnataka,Budget
 Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy Presents deficit budget for fiscal 2019-20.

Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Friday presented a deficit budget for fiscal 2019-20. "As the total expenditure for the ensuing fiscal is estimated to be Rs 2,34,153 crore and total receipts Rs 2,30,738 crore, the budget deficit is expected to be Rs 3,415 crore," said Kumaraswamy presenting the second budget of the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) and Congress coalition government in the southern state.

Kumaraswamy announced a grant of Rs.6,500 crore for the waiver of crop loan of farmers to Commercial Banks and Rs.6,150 crore is to Co-operative Sector. He announced the completion of waiver of the loan of the co-operative sector before May 2019 and completion of waiver of the loan in respect of commercial banks also in the year 2019-20.

"The revenue surplus is estimated to be Rs 258 crore, the fiscal deficit is expected to be Rs 42,051 crore, which is 2.65 percent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP and within the mandated 3 percent of the Karnataka Fiscal Responsibility Act," Kumaraswamy told. He said amid the protest and a walkout by the opposition BJP members.

"We expect to collect Rs 8,055 crore from non-tax revenues, Rs 39,806 crore as a share of central taxes and Rs 15,008 crore as central grants. State-run boards and corporations and local bodies are expected to mobilize Rs 21,459 crore through internal resource generation and borrowings," said Kumaraswamy. The Chief Minister, who also holds the finance portfolio, has proposed the steep increase in additional duty on beer, drought beer, beer from micro-brewery and low alcoholic beverage for mobilizing Rs 20,950 crore from excise duty in the new fiscal as against Rs 19,750 crore set for fiscal 2018-19.

"The budget provision of Rs 2,600 crore for crop loans borrowed from cooperative banks has been released, benefiting 5.97-lakh farmers across the state," added Kumaraswamy.