Himachal to sell ₹800-crore securities to procure loan
The cash-strapped Himachal Pradesh government will take loan by selling government stock (securities) worth ₹800 crore for carrying out development works of the state. A notification regarding this was issued by the state finance department and published in the official gazette on Friday.
An auction in this regard would be held by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) at Mumbai on June 3 and the successful bidder would have to make the payment by June 4, an official said.
The state government has a debt of ₹1.03 lakh crore though the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led Congress government in the state has been blaming the BJP for 'financial mismanagement and pushing the state into debt trap'.
The committed liability of the government on payment of salary and dearness allowance (DA) to employees and the pensioners was about ₹30,000 crore per annum, and 13% pending DA installments and arrears of revised pay scales are yet to be cleared.
According to the notification, the loan will be credited to the government's account on June 3 and repaid over 20 years, with the final repayment due by June 4, 2045. The interest would be on half yearly basis in December and June. The government has stated that the borrowed amount will be used for developmental works across the state.
Sources in the finance department revealed that after disbursing salaries and pensions for state employees, the treasury is left with limited funds, making additional borrowing necessary to meet ongoing financial commitments and fund development projects.
CM Sukhu, while speaking during the budget session in March, had said that his government in the last two years, took loans worth ₹29,046 crore, out of which ₹12,266 crore were spent on paying interest and ₹8,087 crore on debt repayment and only ₹8,693 crore were available for developmental works.
It may be mentioned that the reduction in RDG and lowering the borrowing limit caused a loss of ₹3,000 crore to the government and it also imposed a cut of ₹1,700 crore in borrowing, following restoration of the old pension scheme.
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