Govt sets up task force on public debt management

The government on Tuesday set up four different task forces to lay a road map for upgradation of existing agencies in the financial sector and establishment of new ones, including the Public Debt Management Agency (PDMA). The action is based on recommendations of the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission.

The task forces are on Financial Sector Appellate Tribunal, Resolution Corporation, PDMA, and Financial Data Management Centre. These will be headed by

N K Sodhi, former chief justice of Karnataka and Kerala high courts; M Damodaran, former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India;

D Swarup, former chairman of Pension Fund Regulation Development Authority; and Subir Gokarn, former deputy governor of Reserve Bank of India.

FSLRC, set up in March 2011 for rewriting financial-sector laws to bring them in harmony with the current requirements, had submitted its report to the government on March 22, 2013.

It had recommended a non-sectoral, principle-based, legislative architecture for the financial sector by restructuring or upgrading existing regulatory agencies and creating new ones wherever needed for better governance and accountability.

It suggested creation of PDMA to perform the function of debt management for the government. It would help the government raise debt and support its cash management function. The nine-member task force will review international best practices in public debt management and develop an administrative plan that includes a design of the required physical infrastructure, among other things.

The task force on FSAT will review global best practices of procedural rules and internal processes of courts and tribunals. It will review the present rules of procedure for the Securities Appellate Tribunal.

FDMC task force will review the present practices of management of regulatory data in the country. The one on RC would develop an organisation design for the corporation that would implement the Indian Financial Code. All the four task forces have been given one year to submit their report.