Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act: States demand access to revenue
Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III – Economy
In News:
Recently, majority of the Chief Ministers demanded increasing the State’s access to revenue under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act due to crippling shortage of funds.
Important value additions:
Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act
The FRBM Act, enacted in 2003 by Parliament aims to reduce India’s fiscal deficit and improve macroeconomic management.
Since then, every Budget includes a Medium Term Fiscal Policy Statement that specifies the annual revenue and fiscal deficit goals over a three-year horizon.
The present target is of reducing the fiscal deficit to 3.1% of GDP by March 2023
The Act allows the government to exceed the annual fiscal deficit target under extra-ordinary situations like national security, national calamity.
Due to COVID-19 pandemic, the current circumstances would be aptfor suspending both the Centre’s and States’ fiscal deficit targets.
This would allow both the Union government and States to undertake the much-needed increases in expenditure to meet the extraordinary circumstances.
Fiscal deficit
It is a shortfall in a government’s income compared with its spending.
The government that has a fiscal deficit is spending beyond its means.
