The Punjab government will table a White Paper on the finances of the state in the House during the current session of the Assembly.
A spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said that a decision to this effect was taken by the Council of Ministers during its meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann at the Punjab Civil Secretariat on Friday
The spokesperson described the ‘White Paper’ is an attempt to simplify the complex issues faced by the state government and apprise the common man of the liabilities the incumbent government has inherited from its successive governments.
This White Paper primarily contains four chapters that bring out historic patterns and present the status of financial indicators, debt position and financial health of the state PSUs. The White Paper will also comment on a possible way forward for the resurgence of the fiscal health of the state, the spokesperson said.
The Cabinet also cleared the tabling of the Budget estimates for the year 2022-23 in the ongoing budget session of the Vidhan Sabha. The budget estimates have been prepared after due consultation with all the stakeholders including common citizens and others who gave their suggestions through emails, letters and direct communication.
The proposals have incorporated all the relevant financial indicators such as revenue receipts, capital receipts, revenue expenditure, capital expenditure, revenue deficit, fiscal deficit and outstanding debt.
The Cabinet also accorded a green signal to amend Section 4 in sub-section 2 for clause (a) of the Punjab Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2003. This will help in availing of the benefit of the normal net borrowing ceiling of 3.5 per cent of the projected Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), extra borrowing ceiling equivalent to contribution under the National Pension Scheme (NPS), carrying forward unutilised borrowing out of the borrowing ceiling allowed for the previous years and availing 50-year interest-free loan under the scheme for special assistance to states for Capital Investment for 2022-23 during the current fiscal.