The Hindu : Business : Advisory panel reviews economic situation

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Tuesday, Jan 11, 2005

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Advisory panel reviews economic situation

By Our Special Correspondent

The Chairman of Economic Advisory Council, C. Rangarajan, with the Editor of ICRA Economist, Sumitra Chaudhary, at a meeting of the newly constituted Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council in New Delhi on Monday. — Photo: Kamal Narang

NEW DELHI, JAN. 10 . The members of the newly-reconstituted Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council met today and undertook a preliminary review of the current economic situation. It also worked out plan and the subjects to be taken up.

A meeting with the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, is expected to take place later.

"The council discussed wide-ranging issues including the price situation, taxation, the employment guarantee scheme and developments in the external sector,'' the panel's Chairman, C. Rangarajan, told presspersons after the meeting here. The council discussed all issues relating to taxation ahead of the budget, he said. Indications are that tax reforms and the value-added tax in the States figured in the discussion.

The Economic Advisory Council was constituted on December 29 to advise the Prime Minister on all economic developments, monitor trends and suggest suitable policy response. Dr. Rangarajan said the panel would come up with a monthly report, which would be submitted to the Prime Minister. He ruled out the possibility of overlapping of functions with that of the Finance Ministry and the Planning Commission, saying the Council would only advise, but keep in touch with the Ministries concerned. Today's meeting was also attended by the former Director of Delhi School of Economics, Suresh Tendulkar, the JNU Vice-Chancellor, G. K. Chadda, the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy Director, Govinda Rao, and the ICRA chief economist, Saumitra Chaudhuri.

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