Farm loan waivers against economic principles, cannot effectively address agrarian distress: ADB India chief

New Delhi: Joining the debate on farm loan waivers, Asian Development Bank (ADB) Country Director Kenichi Yokoyama Friday said such write-offs were against economic principles and cannot effectively address the agrarian distress. Yokoyama also advocated for direct transfer of funds to targeted beneficiaries as it would cut down leakages. On farm loan waiver, he said most of the people are sceptical about it as an economic principle and has moral hazards. “There is a need to address agriculture sector distress…but economic principle wise, farm loan waiver is not an effective means to address farm distress,” he said. [caption id=“attachment_5313551” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] Earlier this week, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said any generalised farm loan waiver adversely impacts the credit culture and the behaviour of borrowers, amid various states announcing waivers. He said the loan waiver is related to the fiscal space that a particular state government has. About Rs 1.47 lakh crore of agricultural loans are outstanding in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, which announced waivers recently. Appreciating the fact that India has a platform to provide Direct Benefit Transfer through Aadhaar, Yokoyama said analysis has to be done on how government can launch universal basic income (UBI) scheme in the most efficient way. Asked if there was a stress on fiscal deficit, Yokoyama said ADB has no doubt about the government meeting the target. “I think a clear framework is there and mandate given under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act. We don’t have any doubt over it,” he said. The Centre has budgeted to contain fiscal deficit at 3.3 per cent of the GDP in the current fiscal, lower than 3.5 percent in 2017-18. Last month, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had exuded confidence of meeting the fiscal deficit target of 3.3 per cent for the current fiscal.     To keep watching India’s No. 1 English Business News Channel – CNBC-TV18, call your Cable or DTH Operator and ask for the Colors Family Pack (inclusive of 24 channels), available for Rs. 35/- per month, or subscribe to the channel for Rs. 4/- per day. To keep watching the Leader in Global Market & Business News – CNBC-TV18 Prime HD, call your Cable or DTH Operator and ask for the Colors Family HD Pack (inclusive of 25 channels), available for Rs. 50/- per month, or subscribe to the channel for Rs. 1/- per day.