FRBM panel studying GDP and tax numbers to submit report soon

A GOVERNMENT panel, set up to review the working of FRBM Act, is looking into GDP estimates along with revenue numbers and is expected to submit its report soon.

At present, the committee is looking at the GDP estimates and revenue collections so far in the current fiscal, FRBM Panel Chief N K Singh told reporters here.

“We are calibrating bit of that...we have sought his (the Finance Minister) convenience for submission of report,” he said. When further prodded if the report could be submitted this week, Singh replied, “could be.”

Last year in May, the Centre formed a five-member committee under former revenue secretary Singh to review the working of the 12-year old FRBM Act and examine the feasibility of a fiscal deficit range instead of a fixed target. The committee was originally slated to submit its report by October 31, but exceeded the time table after the government expanded their scope of work to include examination of the recommendations of 14th Finance Commission as also of the Expenditure Management Commission (EMC).

The other members of the committee, which was announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget speech, include former finance secretary Sumit Bose, Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian, the then RBI deputy governor Urjit Patel and NIPFP Director Rathin Roy.

Among other things, the committee is examining the need and feasibility of having a ‘fiscal deficit range’ as the target in place of the existing fixed numbers (percentage of GDP) as the goal.

The committee was set up to review the working of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act over the last 12 years and suggest the way forward “keeping in view the broad objective of fiscal consolidation and prudence and the changes required in the context of the uncertainty and volatility in the global economy”.