FM Nirmala Sitharaman calls FSDC meeting on September 3
This would be the first meeting of the FSDC in the current fiscal year. So far, 23 meetings have been convened.
Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC), the apex body of sectoral regulators headed by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, will meet on September 3, 2021 to discuss the state of the financial sector and measures to support the economic recovery ravaged by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Interestingly, the meeting is being held soon after the announcement of the GDP numbers for the Q1FY22. GDP growth for the first quarter ended June 30, 2021 is projected around 20% against the contraction of over 24% witnessed in the same quarter of the previous fiscal year.
This would be the first meeting of the FSDC in the current fiscal year. So far, 23 meetings have been convened. The last meeting was held on December 15, 2020.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, the heads of the market regulator Sebi, Insurance Regulator Irdai, Pension Regulator PFRDA, and International Financial Services Centres Authority are among the key members of the apex body.
Reportedly, during the virtual meeting with the regulators, Sitharaman may ask financial sector regulators to relax investment norms for instruments like infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs) to be used to monetise public assets.
Earlier this month, the finance minister had announced a Rs 6 lakh crore National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) aimed at unlocking value in infrastructure assets across sectors ranging from power to road and railways.
During Budget 2022, the Union government had identified monetisation of operating public infrastructure assets as a key means for sustainable infrastructure financing.