No new taxes in interim budget
CHENNAI: Finance Minister K Anbazhagan on Saturday presented the last budget of the DMK government’s current term, showing a revenue surplus of Rs 439 crore for the financial year 2011-12. Since it is an interim budget, it does not have announcements about any new scheme or tax proposal. But the government has allocated huge funds for important welfare schemes and the social security sector.In his 100-minute budget address, Anbazhagan spent much of his time in summing up the achievements of the DMK regime in the last five years. Strongly condemning Kerala for its announcement that works on constructing a new dam near Mullaiperiyar reservoir would commence this year, he said it should, at least from now on, desist from acting against the relationship between the two states.
The minister said the total revenue receipts had been estimated at Rs 79,413 crore and the revenue expenditure at Rs 78,974 crore for 2011-12. Stating that the fiscal deficit would be Rs 13,507 crore, Anbazhagan said this would be completely wiped out at the end of the 2011-12 fiscal.
The fiscal deficit would be just 2.3 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) and this would be below the three per cent limit fixed by the 13th Finance Commission, he said, and added that the government had been very careful in managing the deficit. However, he added that the outstanding debt, including liabilities like the provident fund, would increase.
Increase in the debt burden in the five-year period from 2006-07 to 2010-11 was pegged at Rs 44,084 crore and the total capital expenditure during the same period was Rs 44,667 crore, he said, and observed that the entire mobilised debt was utilised for productive purposes.
He said the government had allocated Rs 1,421 crore towards pension schemes being implemented under the social security sector.
