FRBM panel might need more time to submit report

The Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) committee, tasked with suggesting a future fiscal roadmap, has been given additional terms of reference by the government, say sources. This might lead to the panel submitting its report to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley seven to 10 days after the originally specified date of October 31. This will result in the panel submitting its report in early November.

WORK PRESSURE

• The panel, led by N K Singh, has been told to look at the recommendations of the FFC related to fiscal consolidation and amendments in the FRBM Acts
• This might lead to the panel submitting its report to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley seven to 10 days after the originally specified date of October 31

The panel, led by former Member of Parliament and revenue and expenditure secretary N K Singh, has been told to look at the recommendations of the Fourteenth Finance Commission (FFC) related to fiscal consolidation and amendments in the FRBM Acts, apart from its existing terms of reference, senior government officials told Business Standard.

“Some recommendations of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Finance Commissions and the Expenditure Management Commission have been referred to the FRBM panel. Most of the recommendations are from FFC,” said a senior official aware of the developments.

FFC’s suggestions include reporting total extended public debt by states and the Centre in their Budgets; omission of the definition of effective revenue deficit from FRBM Act; setting up independent fiscal councils to study Budget proposals; amendments by states of their FRBM Acts to provide flexibility on fiscal deficit; and replacing the FRBM Act altogether with a Debt Ceiling and Fiscal Responsibility legislation.

Sources said panel chairman Singh met Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das on the matter.

As reported in Business Standard earlier, the FRBM panel might suggest against a fiscal-deficit range and could recommend combining the Centre and states’ fiscal deficit and debt targets.

Among its existing terms of reference, it will also take a re-look at various aspects, factors and considerations for determining FRBM targets and will examine the feasibility of aligning fiscal expansion or contraction with credit expansion and contraction.

The other members of the FRBM panel are Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian, former finance secretary Sumit Bose, and Rathin Roy, director of National Institute of Public Finance and Policy and a Business Standard columnist. Reserve Bank of India governor Urjit Patel was also a member of the panel, when he was deputy governor. He resigned after being elevated to the top post.