NK Singh to head five member FRBM review panel

The central government has constituted a five member committee for a comprehensive review of the 12 year old Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act. Senior BJP leader and former bureaucrat NK Singh will head the panel.

The committee will review the working of the Act in the context of the uncertainity and volatility of global economy and suggest changes that are in tune with the broad objective of fiscal consolidation.

The committee will examine whether a broad fiscal deficit range should be adopted in place of specific target. it will also examine the need and feasibility of aligning the fiscal expansion or contraction with credit contraction or expansion, respectively in the economy.

The decision to form the committee was announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley during the presentation of Union Budget 2016-17.

The other members of the committee are chief economic advisor Arvind Subramaniam, former revenue secretary Sumit Bose, RBI deputy governor Urijit Patel and Rathin Roy, director, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.

The commitee will also provide an assessment of the impact of its recommendations on the government deficit and FRBM parameters.

The committee will submit its report by October 31.