ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education (IFHE) organised the sixth NJ Yasaswy Memorial Lecture on November 16, at its Hyderabad campus, with Dr. Rathin Roy, Director and CEO of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy as Chief Guest. The event was presided over by Dr. C Rangarajan, Chancellor, IFHE.
In his address, Dr. Roy spoke on “ The Need to Persist with Fiscal Consolidation ”. He emphasised the need for prudence from the government in various fiscal decisions like borrowing, spending, and managing targets. He spoke about the tendency to borrow in the name of public expenditure, which could result in deviation from the fiscal targets. He shared his views on the significance of a sound fiscal policy and appropriate fiscal decisions towards macroeconomic stabilisation. He also shared his views on the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act 2003, and its significance in reducing India’s fiscal deficit. Speaking about fiscal policy making and its implementation, Dr. Roy stressed on the need to act with judiciousness.
Dr. Rangarajan, a former RBI Governor and former Governor of undivided Andhra Pradesh, also emphasised on the need for prudence in fiscal spending and pointed out that most of the government’s funds, in the name of public expenditure, were spent towards the revenue expenditure instead of capital expenditure. This, according to him, was not a wise move as it led to a larger fiscal deficit with proportionally lesser public good. While sharing his views on the NK committee and the need to reinstate FRBM Act 2003, he emphasised the need to closely monitor macroeconomic indicators and bring in discipline and prudence in implementing fiscal policies. Dr. Rangarajan said: “Sometimes history offers very important lessons to learn” referring to the 1991 and the 2008 financial crises, which were largely due to the laxity in fiscal prudence.
The inaugural address by Dr. J. Mahender Reddy, Vice Chancellor, IFHE, captured a snapshot of the life of Late NJ Yasaswy and his contributions to research and academia.
Dr. Roy also released a book titled Tracking the Indian Economy: A Collection of Articles, authored by Dr. Rangarajan, and published by IUP Publications, a division of the ICFAI Society. Speaking about the book, Dr. Reddy said, “This collection of articles will be of immense help to students, PhD scholars and faculty members in economics and business in India and abroad to get an insight on the performance of Indian economy.”