This is ridiculous that government’ debt has increased by 49% in the last four and half years while the fortunes of billionaires have multiplied manifold.

Do we not need anything new to this rotting economy to bring in inclusive in it? Total liabilities of the government has increased 49 per cent to Rs 82 lakh crore in the last four-and-half years during the Narendra Modi government, as per the 8th Edition of the Status Paper on Government Debt released Friday.

Compared to the latest data available till September 2018 when the total debt of the Central Government stood at Rs 82, 03,253 crore, the corresponding amount till June 2014 was Rs 54, 90,763 crore, the Finance Ministry's data on government borrowings shows.

The huge surge in government's debt has been propelled by 51.7 per cent growth in public debt from Rs 48 lakh crore to Rs 73 lakh crore in the four-and-half year period, which in turn was driven by 54 per cent rise in internal debt to about Rs 68 lakh crore.

Dependence on market loans shows a similar rise of 47.5 per cent to more than Rs 52 lakh crore during the period. While debt rose through gold bonds was nil at the end of June 2014, it stood at Rs 9,089 crore including the gold monetization scheme? The Central government, in the status paper on government debt, gave a detailed analysis of the overall debt position of the government of India. It has been bringing out an annual status paper on government debt since 2010-11.

Government is primarily resorting to market-linked borrowings for financing its fiscal deficit. While the country's debt has been on the rise, little help is expected from the fiscal deficit side in the current financial year. The fiscal deficit in the first eight months till November stands at Rs 7.17 lakh crore, or 114.8 per cent of the full year's target.

The multibillion questions arise as to how will India grow economically while the inequality is rising very fast in India? India’s top 9 billionaires own as much as the country’s poorest half, according to an annual report by anti-poverty campaigner Oxfam, which looked at inequalities in 2018.

All of the economic parameters are down for example, the non banking financing sector is down, NPA is on rise and fiscal deficit is widening, but the number of billionaires are on rise in the country; therefore, something is fundamentally wrong with our economic model.

The Oxfam report released in 2019 tells us a very fearful story and we should sit back and think about it seriously. Do we need a new tax structure so that these nine billionaires controlling half of the emerging India are taxed properly in accordance with their proportionate wealth?

OXFAM REPORT 2019

The world’s richest 26 billionaires own as much wealth as the 3.8 billion people in the bottom half of humanity, while India’s top 9 billionaires own as much as the country’s poorest half.

The world has over 2,200 billionaires, which is more than twice as many as in 2008. India has 119 billionaires, after adding 18 in 2018. The world’s richest 26 billionaires own as much wealth as the 3.8 billion people in the bottom half of humanity; while India’s top 9 billionaires own as much as the country’s poorest half, according to an annual report by anti-poverty campaigner Oxfam, which looked at inequalities in 2018.

Globally, billionaires’ fortunes rose by 12% to $900 billion, or $2.5 billion a day in 2018, whereas the poorest half of the world’s population saw their wealth decline by 11%, Oxfam said in its study, released before the start of the five-day World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos.

In India, the wealth of billionaires rose by over one-third from $325 billion to $440 billion, which translates to Rs 2,200 crore a day, Oxfam said.

TABLE-1: BILLIONS WITH BILLIONARES (SOURCE-OXFAM REPORT)

WEALTH	WORLD	INDIA
TOTAL WEALTH IN 2017	$ 7,500 billion	$ 325 billion
TOTAL WEALTH IN 2018	$ 8,400 billion	$ 440 billion
INCREASE IN 2017-18	$ 900 billion	$ 115 billion
INCREASE PER DAY	$ 2.5 billion	$ 0.31 billion

TABLE-2: WEALTH CHANGE SINCE 2017

INDIA
TOP 1%	+ 39%
POOREST 50%	+ 3%
WORLD
ALL BILLIONARES	+ 12%
POOREST 50%	-11%

Between 2017 and 2018, the world created a new billionaire every two days. Between 2018 & 2022, India will add an estimated 70 new millionaires per day.

The world has over 2,200 billionaires, which is more than twice as many as in 2008. India has 119 billionaires, after adding 18 in 2018. While billionaires’ wealth grew by 12%, the wealth of the 3.8 billion in the poorest half of the world population dropped by 11%.

In India, the richest 1% added 39% to their wealth, while the poorest half added just 3%. The Oxfam report states that his wealth, at Rs 2.8 lakh crore, is more than the combined revenue and capital expenditure of the Centre and states for medical, public health, sanitation and water supply.

The world’s richest man, owner of Amazon, saw his fortune increase to $112bn. Just 1% of his fortune is the equivalent to the whole health budget for Ethiopia, a country of 105 million people, Oxfam states.

UMA SHANKER SINGH IFS, PhD

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