An Overview of State Finance of Kerala from 2001-02 to 2023-24

It is of the utmost importance that state governments maintain fiscal discipline, not only for the sake of macroeconomic stability, but also to ensure adequate funding of essential social and economic services and to lay the groundwork for economic expansion over the long term. However, the fiscal situation of Indian states is challenged by a number of structural flaws, including high budgetary deficits and debt, an unhealthy expenditure pattern, a limited resource base, and the adoption of populist fiscal measures. Kerala’s public finances suffer from persistently high levels of fiscal and revenue deficits, low levels of public investment in capital projects, increased use of borrowed money to pay for revenue expenditures, mounting debt liabilities, a heavier burden of interest payments, and declining efforts to raise revenue on their own. This paper tries to analyse the trend and pattern of important components of state finance from the fiscal year 2001-02 to the current fiscal year.

Keywords

Public Finance; Public Expenditure; Public Revenue; Fiscal Deficit; Public Debt

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