Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu always says that he is the master of economics and creator of wealth, but a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report tells another story. As per its report, the previous Chandrababu Naidu government had failed miserably to improve the fiscal condition of the state, post its bifurcation.
The report for the fiscal year 2017-18, which was tabled in the state Assembly and later released on Thursday, is highly critical of Naidu and his misleading claims. It claims that Naidu, as Chief Minister, pushed the state into deep debt trap, thanks to mismanagement and unproductive spending of the then government. Naidu’s government had taken Rs 45,860.75 crore through ways and means and overdraft but could not repay them on time, and paid Rs 44.31 crore of additional interest on it.
CAG accused that Naidu’s financial policies acted as the death knell to the state of Andhra Pradesh. By March 2018, the debt piled up to Rs 2,23,706 crore, but no assets were created with the borrowed sum. The debt repayment increased from 18.22% in 2016-17 to 22.51% in 2017- 18. The overall loan outstanding of the state to be cleared in the next seven years went up to Rs 91,599 crore.