Balagopal challenges Antony over Kerala’s fiscal health

N. Balagopal has called senior Congress leader A.K. Antony’s claim that Kerala is a bankrupt State utterly baseless, and said it should be viewed as a tactical move by the incoming United Democratic Front (UDF) government to backtrack on their promises and deceive the public.Remarking that the veteran leader’s long absence from active regional politics might have led to these misconceptions, Mr. Balagopal, addressing a press meet here on Friday, extended an invitation to personally meet Mr. Antony and present the official government data, State budgets, and Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports to verify the State’s robust fiscal health.“UDF leaders like V.D. Satheesan confidently formulated their election manifesto with five prominent guarantees precisely because they were well aware of the State’s sound financial position,” he said. He also observed Mr. Antony’s statements as a pre-emptive defense mechanism, as Congress-ruled States like Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, and Telangana are currently struggling to pay salaries and pensions on time.“If A.K. Antony is trying to take preemptive bail, assuming that the financial distress experienced in Congress-ruled States might occur here as well, he is free to do so. However, he must not shift the blame onto the shoulders of the Left Democratic Front government’s ten-year administration,” he said.Expenditure figuresTo substantiate the State’s financial health, Mr. Balagopal detailed the expenditure figures from the past decade. “While the annual average expenditure was ₹70,000 crore during the Oommen Chandy administration and ₹1.15 lakh crore during the first Pinarayi Vijayan government, the average annual expenditure over the last five years rose significantly to ₹1.72 lakh crore. In the 2025–26 fiscal year alone, the State treasury disbursed over ₹2 lakh crore. Despite severe financial choking and adverse policies from the Central government, the State treasury never closed for a single day, and the distribution of salaries and pensions for government employees remained completely uninterrupted,” he said.The outgoing Finance Minister added that the LDF government exited office without leaving a single instalment of social welfare pension in arrears. Furthermore, all Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) dues for government employees and pensioners were sanctioned, with necessary budget allocations made in the current fiscal year to clear past arrears in eight equal instalments.Addressing the State’s debt profile, Mr. Balagopal noted that Kerala’s public debt decreased by over 5% within five years, dropping from 39% in 2021 to below 34% today. This achievement places Kerala outside the top 15 indebted States in India, making it one of the top-performing States in fiscal consolidation. This turnaround was achieved by managing expenditures efficiently and nearly doubling the State’s own tax revenue from ₹47,000 crore to ₹1 lakh crore over five years.Furthermore, Mr. Balagopal explained that prolonged efforts by the LDF government led the 16th Finance Commission to increase Kerala’s share in the divisible tax pool from 1.925% to 2.382%. This upward revision ensures an additional inflow of at least ₹10,000 crore annually into the State treasury, accumulating to an extra ₹50,000 crore between 2026 and 2031.“The beneficiary of this hard-earned fiscal boost is the incoming UDF government, which has been handed a treasury resilient enough to absorb any financial challenges. The financial liabilities before the new government are significantly smaller compared to what the LDF faced when taking charge,” he said. Published - May 15, 2026 06:56 pm IST