No farm loan waiver from Centre, says Arun Jaitley

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on June 20, 2017 ruled out any waiver of farm loan and said the Centre will adhere to fiscal targets.

The remark came as Punjab became the third State after Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra to announce waiver of loans given to farmers.

Replying to questions from the media, Jaitley said the Centre’s not considering any such plan. The government had in 2008 waived farm loan to the tune of Rs. 74,000 crore.

The Centre, Mr. Jaitley said, will adhere to all fiscal targets including fiscal deficit. He said he would not comment on the loan waivers by States and had already made his position clear last week.

On June 12, 2017, Mr. Jaitley said the Centre would not fund any of the loan waivers by States and they will have to find their own funds for doing so.

“I have already made the position clear that States which want to go in for these kind of schemes (farm loan waivers) will have to generate them from their own resources. Beyond that the central government has nothing more to say,” he said.