Budget 2018: FRBM fiscal deficit road map obsolete last year - CEA

Conditions were different when report came out; Budget won't be outright populist, govt must show fiscal discipline, says CEA

The recommendations of the fiscal responsibility and budget management (FRBM) panel, which had recommended a fiscal deficit target of 3 per cent of gross domestic product, for 2018-19, have been rendered obsolete by circumstances, Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian told Business Standard in an exclusive interview, a day after presenting his latest Economic Survey.

Subramanian indicated that while the upcoming budget 2018-19 will not be an outright populist document, fiscal targets have to be realistic. “The FRBM Panel’s roadmap has been rendered obsolete. The conditions were quite different when the report came out,” he said.

The panel, headed by 15th