In the last two decades, high rates of economic growth in India have concurred with high fiscal deficits. This volume emphasizes the need to reverse this trend of high deficits and to explore the possibility of policy reorientation in order to accelerate growth. The essays address key issues including: sustainability of high fiscal deficits in the medium term; the role of tax revenue enhancing measures and government spending cuts in a deficit reduction strategy; soaring government spending over the past two decades; the impact of the quality of government spending on economic growth; and the agenda for policy-makers in the future. Individual contributors analyse important macro-and micro-fiscal issues such as taxation strategies, fiscal discipline and fiscal devolution as well as State Electricity Board overdues, health service use, and pension reform. Presenting a spectrum of policy aspects, the volume demonstrates that focusing on both the macro-and micro-fiscal picture is imperative for designing a successful stabilization programme. It is important to recognize that closing a fiscal deficit by cutting public spending may be convenient in some cases and not in others. The discussions acknowledge the need for clearly articulated criteria to guide the selection of programmes for fiscal reform as well as to identify practices that need to be discontinued. This book, articulating a fiscal policy agenda for India, will be important for researchers, policy-makers, students and professional economists.
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