Facing fiscal crisis: CM gets fiscal gyan from top economists

Hyderabad: Economic experts have advised the state government to maintain financial prudence and proper balance between spending on welfare activities and development programmes. “Both should go simultaneously,” they are learnt to have told the government.

This advice flows from a series of meetings Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has been holding with the economic experts in the country, including former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan. On Saturday, former Vice Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia met with the Chief Minister.

The meeting assumed significance following government’s plan to fulfill the promises of six guarantees by allocating adequate funds in the new financial year. The CM has set a target of 100 days to implement the 6G. The debt burden on the state economy reportedly took a centrestage in the discussion between Revanth Reddy and Montek Singh. He is said to have cautioned the CM not to go for loans liberally for mega projects which do not give returns in time.

Officials said that Revanth would meet some more economic experts to seek their suggestions to tide over the crisis at the earliest.

The proposal to appoint an eminent economist as an Advisor is under consideration. He is contemplating to utilise the services of all the economic experts who played key role during the Congress regime between 2004 and 2014.

Raghuram Rajan too is said to be advising the state government on the queries they were raising regarding the methodology to put the state economy back on track.

Officials said that Revanth will invite some more economic experts to the state and hold a meeting soon.