Andhra Pradesh chief minister K Roasiah said the central and state governments had a task to strike a balance between growth and inflation. The three fiscal stimulus packages announced by the central government infused liquidity for maintaining economic growth.
Speaking at a conference on ‘Global economic meltdown– Challenges and prospects,' organised by the Sri Ramanuja Mission Trust, he said many states including Andhra Pradesh suffered revenue loss due to the global meltdown. The FRBM, which was relaxed by the Centre to allow states to borrow up to 3.5 per cent of their GSDP for 2008-09, then to 4 per cent, has helped them make more funds available.
In the last five years, Andhra Pradesh achieved an average annual growth rate of over 10 per cent in GSDP in constant terms for 2004-08 and 6 per cent for 2008-09 due to the slowdown. Agriculture and allied activities, in constant terms, achieved an average annual growth rate of 6.7 per cent during 2004-09, as against the national average of 3 per cent for the corresponding period. The state would be back on the road to 9 per cent growth rate after tiding the economic crisis, the chief minister said.
Attributing the growth to the initiatives of former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, who died in a helicopter crash on September 2, Roasiah said the state was providing pensions to 5.5 million people, rice at Rs 2 a kg to about 80 per cent of the population, over 1,500 crore units free power per annum to farmers besides reimbursing tuition fees for about 2.5 million post-matric students among others.
The Rajiv Aarogyasri health insurance scheme, which provides hospitalisation expenses upto Rs 2 lakh per annum per family, has become a role model for many state, he said.