The state government had issued guarantees to Rs 79,815.63 crore during the last two financial years, said Union Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary, in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

In a reply to TDP member, Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar, in Rajya Sabha, the Minister said that the state government had issued guarantees for Rs 22,366.08 crore during 2021-22 and Rs 57,449.55 crore during 2022-23 financial year.

The Minister further said that AP has enacted the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act which makes the State government responsible to ensure prudence in fiscal management and fiscal stability by progressive elimination of revenue deficit, reduction in fiscal deficit, prudent debt management consistent with fiscal sustainability and greater transparency in fiscal operations of the government.

He also added that the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance generally follows the fiscal limits mandated by the accepted recommendations of the Finance Commission while exercising the powers to approve borrowings by States under Article 293 (3) of the Constitution, the minister said.

The Minister further said that the Centre had noticed that some states were borrowing beyond their net borrowing cost (NBC). Following this, the Centre had written to the states in March 2022, stating that such borrowings “shall be considered as borrowings by the state itself,” the Minister told the TDP MP.