B P Kanungo: State government market borrowings - issues and prospects

Keynote address by Mr B P Kanungo, Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, at the Financial Market Conclave of the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mumbai, 31 August 2018.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

Shri Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, President, Bengal Chamber of Commerce, Shri T. Bandopadhyay, ladies and gentlemen. I am thankful to the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry for providing me the opportunity to be present here and speak on the subject of 'State Government Borrowing'.

In the federal system of governance that we have in our country, both the Central and the State Governments are responsible for the development of the nation. To discharge the responsibility, the overall magnitude of the State Budgets is significant, and the nature of spending incurred by the states is crucial for development. As states have their own developmental priorities, financing the budgets assumes vital importance. Given this scenario, it is important to examine the current conditions of budget and debt management at state level, identify the issues and dwell on the prospects.