Bhubaneswar: Odisha has ranked 3rd in budget transparency. ‘Transparency International’ in its annual edition has ranked Odisha 3rd next to Assam (1st) and Andhra Pradesh (2nd) with regard to transparency in the budget making process.
This was revealed by Principal Secretary Finance Ashok Kumar Meena during a high-level review meeting on economic indexing chaired by Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy through digital mode today, said an official press release issued by the Chief Secretary’s office.
The ranking has been termed as another distinction in implementation of 5T Framework in the State’s financial matters.
Odisha secured 66 ranking points against 67 by Andhra Pradesh and 70 ranking points of Assam.
Other states in the top five ranking included Jharkhand and Bihar who scored 60 and 59 ranking points respectively.
While complimenting the progressive procedural reforms achieved by Finance department in the matters of budget making, financial management, and financial regulation, the Chief Secretary directed the department to work out a ‘composite index’ including agriculture, fishery and animal husbandry sectors for tracking States’ economy during pre-Covid, Covid and post-Covid scenario.
Tripathy also directed to focus on surrender of the funds lying idle in different Government departments.
The meeting deliberated on different indicators of this ‘composite index’ being prepared with technical support from the center of excellence for fiscal policy and taxation (CEFT) at XIMB.
It was decided to include the indicators representing agriculture, fishery, animal husbandry, mining, GST, motor vehicle tax, electricity consumption, VAT on Non-GST goods, excise duty, total man-days created, aggregate bank credit, unemployment rate, revenue position, fiscal deficit/surplus, Debt/GSDP ratio.
It was decided to use other high-frequency data for a comprehensive objective ranking.
Tripathy advised to apply the ‘composite index’ for assessing the State’s economic trend on monthly and quarterly basis.
Development Commissioner Suresh Chandra Mohapatra, Additional Secretary Finance Roop Narayan Das, Additional Secretary Finance Satyapriya Ratha along with senior officers of the department took part in the deliberations.
