Audit Reports
Punjab
Report of 2012-13 Government of Punjab - Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India on State Finances
Overview
This Report on the finances of the Government of Punjab is brought out to assess the financial performance of the State during the year 2012-13 vis-a-vis the Budget Estimates and the targets set under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2003 as amended and analyses the dominant trends and structural profile of Government's receipts and disbursements. Based on the audited accounts of the Government of Punjab for the year ended 31 March 2013 and additional data collated from several sources such as the Economic Survey brought out by the State government and Census, this report provides an analytical review of the Annual Accounts of the State government in three Chapters.
Chapter-I is based on the Finance Accounts and makes an assessment of Punjab Government's fiscal position as on 31 March 2013. It provides an insight into trends and profile of key fiscal aggregates, committed expenditure, borrowing pattern, etc. Chapter-II is based on Appropriation Accounts and it gives the grant-wise description of appropriations and the manner in which the allocated resources were managed by the service delivery departments. Chapter-Ill details Government's compliance with various reporting requirements and financial rules and submission of accounts.
Fiscal Correction Path: Punjab passed the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act in 2003. The State could not contain its revenue deficit as per targets fixed by the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act. During the current year it was 2.52 percent as against the target of 1.20 per cent of GSDP in Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act. However, the fiscal deficit at 3.18 per cent of Gross State Domestic Product in the current year was within the target of 3.50 per cent fixed under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (Amendment) Act, 2011. Low priority to capital expenditure: No specific norms regarding prioritization of capital expenditure have been laid in Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act. However, the State Government in its Fiscal Consolidation Roadmap committed to increase the capital expenditure every year over the previous year during the period 2010-11 to 2014-15. However, capital expenditure is decreasing year by year and came down from ten per cent of total expenditure in 2009-10 to five per cent in 2012-13. The net capital expenditure as per cent of Gross State Domestic Product declined from 1.64 percent in 2008-09 to 0.65 per cent in the current year which indicates that instead of using borrowed funds for creation of assets it was used to meet the revenue expenditure.