Bhubaneswar: Even as there is a nation-wide debate over the economic slowdown in India, the state government here said it is closely watching the situation and will take precautionary measures, when required, to deal with any such situation in the state.
Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari said, “We are carefully watching the situation. We are now giving focus on augmentation of revenue from various sources and we will also try to increase the budget expenditure so that the slowdown will not affect our people.”
The government is monitoring the market situation and steps will be taken accordingly, he said.
However, budget expenditure is in a declining trend which is a case of concern for the state government. The state’s budget expenditure till July end of 2019-20 was less by 2.89 per cent as compared to corresponding period of 2018-19.
The budget spending on infrastructure dipped by 84 per cent while the expenditure in housing and urban development fell down by 43 per cent. Social Sector spending has also come down to `2,696 crore against last year’s spending of `6,752 crore.