The Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee today held parleys with all the financial sector regulators including Reserve Bank of India Governor, Dr Subbarao and Sebi chief, Mr C.B.Bhave and sought their inputs for the 2011-12 budget to be unveiled on February 28.

The pre-budget consultations were held along with a meeting of the high-level Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) at North Block here today. This is the second time that FSDC has met after it was set up in end December last year. This also provided an opportunity for RBI Governor to hold his customary meeting with the Finance Minister ahead of monetary policy review.

“The RBI policy is scheduled on January 25. As a standard practice I have come to review the macroeconomic situation with the Finance Minister”, Dr Subbarao told reporters after the meeting.

The Central Bank is scheduled to hold the quarterly review of its monetary policy on January 25. It is widely expected to raise the key rates by 25—50 basis points to tame inflation that has shot up to 8.43 per cent in December, from 7.48 a month ago.

The FSDC meeting was also attended by Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) chief Mr J Hari Narayan and Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) chairman Mr Yogesh Aggarwal.

FSDC, which is chaired by the Finance Minister, has been set up to deal with issues concerning financial stability, financial sector development, financial literacy, financial inclusion and macro—prudential supervision of the economy, including the functioning of large financial conglomerates.

Besides, the Council will also coordinate the country’s international interface with financial sector bodies such as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and Financial Stability Board (FSB).

>krsrivats@thehindu.co.in

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