Firm believer in need for a fiscal council: Rathin Roy

Interview with Director, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy

RATHIN ROY, member of the NK Singh committee on a new Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) law and Director, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, talks to Arup Roychoudhury on their recommendations. Edited excerpts:

The committee has recommended a debt to GDP ratio of 60 per cent for governments in general by 2023. This comprises 40 per cent for the Centre and 20 per cent for states. Given the current debt levels, does adopting this path mean the burden of reducing the public debt falls squarely on the Centre?

No. For reasons elucidated in the report, states, collectively, will have