RBI Governor asks states to find out effective ways to address debt issues

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on Thursday asked state governments to find out effective ways to address the issues related to debt and cash management.

The governor was addressing the 32nd Conference of the State Finance Secretaries (SFS) here.

In his address, Das highlighted the importance of the SFS conference as an effective platform to deliberate on, and find out effective ways to address various issues relating to states' debt and cash management, RBI said in a statement.

He emphasised on the need for the states to adopt prudent borrowing strategy and efficient cash management practices, keeping in view the evolving macroeconomic scenarios.

Further, Das stressed on the need for the states to focus on improving quality of expenditures, better handling and monitoring of contingent liabilities and improving the governance in the cooperative banks.

During the meeting, market borrowings by the states and administration of the Consolidated Sinking Fund/ Guarantee Redemption Fund were reviewed.

The other issues discussed in the meeting included quality of expenditure by the states, role of states in inflation control, debt management strategies of the states, the need for capacity building programmes for debt and cash management, and various operational matters.

The conference was attended by the officials from the Union Ministry of Finance, Controller General of Accounts, Comptroller and Auditor General of India and the finance secretaries of 24 States and one Union Territory.