Kerala CM puts away meeting to discuss approaching SC on GST after Sitharaman's initiative

Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac on Saturday said that Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has put away the scheduled high-level meeting to discuss approaching the Supreme Court on GST issue in the wake of a new initiative by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

"Kerala's CM puts away scheduled high level meeting to discuss approaching SC on GST issue in the light of new initiative by Union FM. Having amicably settled question of who should borrow, we hope she will address question of how much to borrow through dialogue with state FMs," Thomas said in tweet on Saturday.

Thomas on Friday said that he welcomed the new announcement that Centre will borrow through special window and provide back to back loans to states in lieu of compensation.

"I welcome the new announcement that Centre will borrow through special window and provide back to back loans to states in lieu of compensation. But there is one issue yet to be resolved: How much of compensation is to be deferred to 2023? Negotiate this point and reach a consensus," Thomas had said in a tweet on Thursday.

Yesterday, he had also said in a tweet, "Provide full compensation payment of Rs 2.3 lakh crore this year itself. Since under the new arrangement additional borrowing does not affect the fiscal deficit of the Centre, why should it hesitate to borrow Rs 1.7 lakh crore instead of the present offer of Rs 1.1 lakh crore?"

(ANI)

Also Read: Kerala gold smuggling: Nothing in case diary to substantiate terror funding, says NIA court