Economy in dire straits: Dr Chinglen Maisnam
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, February 28 2024:
Manipur Budget 2024-25 reflects state's finances are in dire straits.
The Budget speech has rightly admitted that the state's economy is facing a serious crisis owing to ongoing violence.
The budget speech rightly pointed out, "the current financial year has been the hardest year for our government.
The present unrest has greatly affected the state in multiple ways.
The state had experienced not only law and order issues, but our fiscal capacity was also severely impacted....we may suffer tax losses to the tune of Rs 800 crore during the current year.
This does not include the overall impact on the economy of the state".
The state's economy was already in a sharp slowdown well before the violence and present violence has further destroyed economic activity.
The violence which started towards the beginning of the financial year 2023-24 had a massive impact on the state's economy.
The period has witnessed a significant reduction in total expenditures from Rs 35,022 crore (BE) to Rs 32,591 crore (RE) .
The revenue receipts have also declined from Rs 27,547.53 crore (BE) to Rs 23,627.91 crore (RE) posing a serious challenge to the state's fiscal position.
The cut in total government expenditure for 2024-25 over the budget estimates for 2023-24 is a serious matter.
As a percentage of GSDP, there is a sharp reduction in government expenditure.
Thus, the budget is contractionary.
The budget needs to focus on reviving the economy by pumping money to revive it.
However, the budget fails to address this critical issue.
This Tentative Budget shows a tentative idea of how the full budget will be shaping up.
The central government should extend additional support to help the state tide over the current resource shortage issues.