New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reconstituted Economic Advisory Council (EAC), which used to be a key body during the UPA years, to provide inputs to the PM for steering the faltering economy.
Economist and NITI Aayog member Bibek Debroy will lead the EAC. Other members include Surjit Bhalla, senior India analyst at the Observatory Group, a New York-based macro policy advisory group, Rathin Roy, Director of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, Ashima Goyal, professor of economics at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, and Ratan Watal, former Finance Secretary.
The PM-EAC under Manmohan Singh was headed by former RBI Governor and noted economist C Rangarajan. It was abolished in 2014 along with a host of other similar bodies, including the Planning Commission and the National Knowledge Commission.
Soon after the announcement, Ashima Goyal told CNBC TV18 in a phone interview that among the steps that could be taken by the government to stimulate demand may include tax cuts. The role of the PM-EAC is to advise the Prime Minister on economic issues. The reconstitution assumes significance because it comes ahead of a much touted fiscal stimulus package being considered by the government to revitalize the economy. Secondly, a lot of internationally reputed economists have parted ways with this government, including former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan and former NITI Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya.
Rakesh Mohan, a former deputy governor of the RBI told CNBC TV 18 that the revival of the EAC signaled that the government plans to give economic issues more importance. “Given the chorus of voices on the slowdown and jobs, it’s a signal that economic issues will assume greater significance,” Mohan said.
On Saturday, the Finance Ministry extended the term of chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian by another year.
Comments
0 comment