Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: As the State government remained more focused on infrastructure development, Goa’ capital expenditure almost doubled over the past five years. This is despite the fact that the State’s debt burden continued to exceed the safe benchmark, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has cautioned.
The State Finances Report 2023-24, presented in the Assembly on Friday, shows that capital spending — used mainly for creating fixed assets like roads and public buildings — climbed from ₹1,660 crore in 2019-20 to ₹3,571 crore in 2023-24.
During the same period, the State’s outstanding debt rose to ₹33,573 crore, equal to 29.93% of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), overshooting the 25% limit for all five years from 2019 to 2024. The debt-GSDP ratio, which stayed above 30% until 2022-23, dipped slightly last year but remains high enough to signal reduced fiscal flexibility.
GSDP grew from ₹75,032 crore in 2019-20 to ₹1,06,533 crore in 2023-24, with the latest year seeing a 13.73% rise over 2022-23. The government’s own tax revenue increased by 11.49% in 2023-24, while total expenditure expanded by 11.52% to ₹20,423 crore.
Revenue expenditure — day-to-day operational costs — rose from ₹11,622 crore to ₹16,849 crore in five years. Around half of it was consistently absorbed by committed expenses such as salaries, pensions, and interest payments, which grew from ₹5,725 crore to ₹8,257 crore over the same period.
Revenue receipts went up by 62% to ₹18,272 crore, while capital receipts, largely from borrowing, rose from ₹2,704 crore to ₹4,156 crore. The fiscal deficit stood at ₹2,148 crore (2.02% of GSDP) in 2023-24, compared to ₹1,994 crore (2.66%) in 2019-20.
