Budget 2019-20: Odisha reins in fiscal deficit despite poll focused doles

State economy to grow by 8-8.5% in FY20

Odisha in spite of rolling out a flurry of people-centric programmes with an eye on the impending polls succeeded in containing its fiscal deficit at 2.9 per cent (of the GSDP) in the revised estimates for 2018-19, lowering it from 3.5 per cent projected in the initial Budget estimate.

In its Budget for 2019-20, the state government has envisaged a fiscal deficit of three per cent of the GSDP at Rs 16,193 crore within the limits set by Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act. In the Budget for 2018-19, Odisha had set a higher fiscal deficit projection as it provisioned