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Kerala’s KIIFB on the boil as ED launches probe
March 03, 2021
Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac has dared the Centre to do what it can with Kerala Infrastructure Investment Board (KIIFB), a body corporate financial institution set up by the cash-strapped State government to mobilise funds from outside sources for infrastructure development in the state.
“If the idea is to continue to intimidate the State government in the matter, we would be ready to give it back in kind,” Isaac thundered in a Facebook post after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) announced a probe into the working of the key infrastructure funding arm of the State government.
Kerala’s travails with soaring public debt continue
January 29, 2021
Could breach ₹ 3-lakh cr this year, says expert
“Irrespective of who rules the state, the debt will double” is how Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac put it on the floor of the legislature recently while referring to the state’s public debt that has doubled almost every five years. For instance, from ₹ 26,259 crore to ₹ 47,883 crore by end-March, 2006: ₹ 83,963 crore in end-March, 2011; and ₹ 1,62,272 crore by end-March 2016.
“It would not be a surprise if the debt should breach the ₹3- lakh crore by end-March this year. As sobering a thought abounding with far-reaching implications for the economy, this does not seem to have set off the alarm bells ringing just yet,” says Jose Sebastian, public finance expert and former faculty at think-tank Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation, Thiruvananthapuram.
Leaders lock horns during discussion regarding the CAG’s adverse findings on KIIFB borrowings, masala bonds
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| A+A A- By Express News Service
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Finance Minister Thomas Isaac on Wednesday challenged Congress leader VD Satheesan to submit evidence on his allegation that the CAG had sent the minutes of the exit meeting to the state government. The leaders locked horns during the discussion on the adjournment motion moved by Satheesan regarding the CAG’s adverse findings on the borrowings of the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Board (KIIFB). The CAG, in its State Finance Audit Report that was tabled in the House on January 18, had observed that the borrowings were unconstitutional.