Mamata to meet PM with a 10 year reign plan

Mamata to meet PM with a 10 year reign plan

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee is now trying to seek central approval for a 10-year debt restructuring roadmap when she meets Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on May 4.This came after she gave a 15 days deadline for a moratorium on repayment of central loans.
Mamata’s demands include a three-year moratorium on the payment of interest as well as principal of the outstanding debt stock, waiver of some loans and reduction of interest on others over the remaining seven years.
State Finance Minister Amit Mitra has said that the Bengal government had asked for a moratorium on both interest and principal repayment amount for three years.
The annual interest component of the debt is around 17,000 Crore while the remaining 5,000 Crore is principal. Of the interest component,8000 Crore is repayment towards central loan and the rest is repayment for market borrowing and other sources of revenue generation earned through small savings schemes.
It was after the finance commission had identified Bengal, Kerela and Punjab as three debt-stressed states that the state government found enough reason to demand for concession on loan repayment, senior officials at Writers’ Buildings said.
The two major debt components are market borrowing and small savings. The previous government banked heavily on these two components, an official said.