Goa braces for 88% jump in debt repayment in FY 2025-26

Panaji: Goa govt has to repay Rs 2,023 crore in the coming financial year to settle loans, including Rs 1,504 crore that govt borrowed in 2015-16 through state govt bonds. Besides, govt estimates that it will spend Rs 1,600 crore on interest payments for state development loans taken over the years.
BJP-led govt’s liberal borrowings in 2018-19 will return to haunt govt in 2028-29, when state govt bonds worth Rs 2,350 crore will have to be repaid. This will be a 194% jump over the Rs 800 crore that govt spent to repay state development loans in the current financial year.
Over the next five years, Goa will have to repay Rs 11,364 crore.
For the first time, chief minister Pramod Sawant acknowledged the burden on the state exchequer, admitting in the state budget that “there is heavy repayment of principal amount of Rs 1,504 crore of open market borrowings done ten years earlier.”
In 2015-16, govt raised Rs 1,504 crore through the auction of state govt bonds, and over the past ten years, it was paying around 8.2% as interest on this money that was borrowed through 11 auctions.
Govt officials said that the principal amount will be repaid by taking fresh loans and utilising the income earned from the resumption of iron ore mining and GST.
“The total debt to be repaid in the coming year is Rs 2,023 crore, which includes loans taken from National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard), National Small Saving Fund (NSSF), and other organisations,” said a govt official. “After two to three years, the repayment amount will go higher.”
To meet the gap between its income and expenditure, Goa govt borrows money from NSSF, Nabard, and other sources but the major chunk comes through the auction of state govt bonds by the RBI.
Goa’s debt is estimated to be Rs 26,605 crore as of March 31, as against Rs 23,971 crore in the previous year.
The CAG warned state govt that close to 50% of the state’s loans were coming up for repayment, for which govt needs to adopt prudent fiscal management.