Taking a dig at former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu has said that the former Chief Minister has no understanding of economic data and the Budget. During his 10-year tenure, his understanding was limited only to land-related corruption.

In a statement issued here on Saturday, Capt Abhimanyu said under the present BJP government, the state was progressing in every field and four Budgets of the state more than proved the point. “But the way Hooda is giving statements on Budget, I feel pity on his understanding of economic issues,” he added.

Daring the former Chief Minister to a debate on the Budget at any forum, he said, “The Budget is a serious issue and we expect honest criticism and suggestion from the opposition parties, but Hooda is only doing politics by making false accusations.”

He said the present government was taking loans at cheaper rates as compared to the previous government to fill the pits dug by the previous government. Budget management of Haryana is balanced and the state has been identified as a responsible state.

During the last four years of the present government, actual expenditure averaged 90 per cent of the proposed Budget estimates every year, whereas in the previous regime from 2010 to 2015, the actual expenditure did not touch 85 per cent.

Capt Abhimanyu said the loan growth rate increased by 19.41 per cent in 2011-12, 22.37 per cent in 2012-13, 19.02 per cent in 2013-14 but it decreased by 16.87 per cent in 2016-17, 17.42 per cent in 2017-18 and 16.72 per cent has been proposed for 2018-19. A sum of Rs 15,461 crore was spent on revising the pay scales and pension of employees in 2013-14, whereas Rs 26,732 crore has been spent in 2017-18 and Rs 28,898 crore has been proposed to be spent in 2018-19.

In the last 10 years of the previous government, about Rs 11,000 crore was spent in the agriculture sector whereas the present government has spent this amount in the last four years up to March 31, 2018, he said.