Pranab holds first Financial Stability Council meet

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today held the first meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC), a high-level body which has been set up to sort out inter-regulatory issues.

"We had a very positive and constructive meeting", said Mukherjee who heads the Council which includes Reserve Bank Governor, Finance Secretary and heads of Sebi and Irda.

"The meeting", Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla said, "discussed broad issues regarding the state of economy".

Among others, the meeting was attended by Reserve Bank Governor D Subbarao, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) chairman C B Bhave and Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) chairman J Hari Narayan.

When asked whether the meeting discussed the guidelines for coordinating the work of regulators, Hari Narayan said, "I think so".

Mukherjee in his budget speech had proposed to set up the FSDC to deal with financial stability, financial sector development, inter-regulatory coordination, financial literacy, financial inclusion and macro-prudential supervision of the economy, including the functioning of large financial conglomerates.

Besides, the Council is also expected to coordinate the country's international interface with financial sector bodies such as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and Financial Stability Board (FSB).