BHUBANESWAR: Securing the highest score of 67.8 in the NITI Aayog’s first Fiscal Health Index (FHI) report for 2022-23, Odisha has emerged a fiscal champion among all states in the country.
Odisha topped the debt index with a score of 99 surging ahead of states like Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu which command robust economies.
The state also topped the debt sustainability criteria with a score of 64 while scoring better than average under Quality of Expenditure and Revenue Mobilisation with 52 and 69.9 points respectively.
Odisha has also scored 54 in fiscal prudence. In all these, Odisha has been placed in the ‘achievers’ category.
The Fiscal Health Index evaluated 18 states pivotal to India’s economic landscape, assessing public expenditure, revenue, and fiscal stability. The report stated that Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Goa, and Gujarat have consistently been the top-performing states across all time periods considered in the study.
Notably, Odisha is among the few states complying with the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) parameters since 2005, taking prudent measures to keep its fiscal indicators healthy.
The NITI Aayog’s first fiscal health index report observed that the revenue expenditure on health and education at 33.8 per cent compound annual growth rate was higher than that of the major states with 22.6 per cent CAGR during 2020-2022.
The revenue expenditure and capital expenditure increased by 53.5 per cent and 42 per cent respectively during 2018-19 to 2022-23, it added. The report stated that capex on education, sports, arts and culture rose due to increase in expenditure under Samagra Shiksha.
The increase in urban development was due to rise in expenditure for new city development, it added. The report said since 2019-20, the total debt of Odisha has been decreasing mainly due to the repayment of market loans. The outstanding liabilities/GSDP between 2018-19 and 2022-23 ranged from 15 per cent to 24 per cent, within the target of 25 per cent set by FRBM, it added.
Prudence in expenditure and efforts to mobilise own revenue have reduced the fiscal deficit from 6.9 per cent of the GSDP in 2000-01 to two per cent in 2022-23 which is within the limit of three per cent set by FRBM. The state has been able to attain revenue surplus since 2005-06, the report said and added, this creation of fiscal space enabled the state government to invest more in socio-economic sectors and critical areas of the economy.
