N J Yasaswy Memorial Lecture held at ICFAI Hyderabad

24^th November 2017, Hyderabad: ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education (IFHE), the Deemed University of ICFAI at Hyderabad, organized the 6th N J Yasaswy Memorial Lecture on November 16, at its sprawling campus in Hyderabad. Dr. Rathin Roy, the Director, and CEO of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy was the Chief Guest for the event. The event was presided over by Dr. C Rangarajan, the Chancellor, IFHE, who is the former RBI Governor and former Governor of undivided Andhra Pradesh.

In his address, Dr. Roy spoke on “The Need to Persist with Fiscal Consolidation”. He emphasized the need for fiscal prudence on the government’s part, in various fiscal decisions like borrowing, and spending, and managing the fiscal targets. Dr. Roy drew an interesting analogy between alcoholism and 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 stabilization. He also shared his views on the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act 2003, and its significance in reducing India’s fiscal deficit. Dr. Roy stressed on the need to act with judiciousness in fiscal policymaking and implementation. 

Dr. Rangarajan emphasized 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 the 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 emphasized the need to closely monitor the 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 N J Yasaswy and his towering contributions to research and academia.

On the occasion, Dr. Roy 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, Ph.D. scholars and faculty members in economics and business in India and abroad to get an insight on the performance of Indian economy.”

The ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education (IFHE) is a Deemed University under Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956. 5,200 students are pursuing various programs in the Faculty of Management (IBS Hyderabad), ICFAI Tech School and ICFAI Law School at the University. IFHE is accredited by NAAC with ‘A’ Grade with an impressive score (institutional CGPA) of 3.43 out of 4.

Authorized Signatory:

Sudhakar Rao
Director-Branding
Mob: +91-98485 29385.