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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Finance ministry for 10% cut in non-plan expenditure

Finance ministry for 10% cut in non-plan expenditure

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published Published on Jun 1, 2012   modified Modified on Jun 1, 2012
-The Economic Times

The finance ministry on Thursday announced a 10% cut in non-plan expenditure in the current fiscal as part of austerity measures aimed at containing its ballooning fiscal deficit.

The Centre is aiming to bring down its fiscal deficit to 5.1% of GDP in 2012-13, from 5.76% in the previous fiscal. It also hopes to cut its subsidy bill to below 2% of GDP this year.

The ministry has argued that there is tremendous pressure on government resources, which necessitates rationalisation and optimisation of resources.

The cut will not apply to interest payments, repayment of debt, defence capital expenditure, salaries, pensions and grants to states. The total non-plan expenditure is Rs 9.7 lakh crore, but after the exclusions the government could only save at most Rs 20,000 crore.

It also announced a ban on creation of new posts and on holding government functions in five-star hotels. The directive from the ministry's expenditure division to all ministries and department has also imposed curbs on foreign travel. It has also directed that the size of delegations and the duration of visits be kept to "absolute minimum". Re-appropriation proposals on this will not be approved.

"There will be a total ban on holding of meetings and conferences in five-star hotels...purchase of vehicles is banned until further orders," said an office memorandum issued by the ministry.

Earlier this month, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had said in the Rajya Sabha that he would impose new austerity measures.

"I am going to issue some sort of austerity measures... whether people like it or not ... to convey a signal that we are responding to the situation," he had said.

The ministry has also cautioned that the rush of expenditure on procurement should be avoided during the last quarter of the fiscal and, in particular, the last month of the year "so as to ensure that all procedures are complied with and there is no infructuous or wasteful expenditure".

The memorandum says that funds should not be released without prior approval of the ministry to any entity, including state governments, which default in furnishing utilisation certificates for grants-in-aid released by the Central government. 

The Economic Times, 1 June, 2012, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/finance/finance-ministry-for-10-cut-in-non-plan-expenditure/articleshow/13694821.cms


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