A panel looking into the possible revision of the Financial Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2003, submitted its report to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday, BloombergQuint reported. The committee headed by former revenue secretary NK Singh was constituted in May 2016 to examine the feasibility of introducing a “fiscal deficit range” instead of a fixed target to achieve during a financial year.
The four-volume report deals with matters such as the relationship between the Centre and states, financial policy, presentations made to the panel by organisations including the World Bank and the views of domestic and international experts. While the committee was originally supposed to submit its report in October 31, 2016, the addition of extra terms of reference related to the recommendations of the 14th finance commission delayed the submission.
“We have discharged our obligation by giving this report for the central government to consider,” Singh said, adding that it was up to the Centre to decide on making the report public, The Hindu reported. The government said it will decide on the next course of action after examining the report.
Besides Singh, the panel also comprised Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel, former finance secretary Sumit Bose, Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian and National Institute of Public Finance and Police Director Rathin Roy.
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