Fiscal Deficits and Inflation Management : The Link to Monetary Policy Reform in India

This paper begins with a brief overview of the prevailing fiscal scenario in India, emphasizing the path of the fiscal deficit between 1991 and the present fiscal year. It then examines the prevailing monetary policy framework and the key issues involved which lead up to a debate on monetary reform in India. It examines the link between fiscal deficits and price stability/inflation management. This is done in two parts - the first examining the impact of fiscal policy on inflation, and the second examining the impact of monetary policy on government debt and deficit. These impacts are examined by explaining the existing theory of the links between these issues, and then contextualizing each of the links for the Indian case. Having established that complementary fiscal rules are needed before moving towards establishing a monetary policy rule in India, the paper examines the existing fiscal rules and their suitability/efficacy towards supporting possible monetary reform, and concludes by looking at fiscal and political limitations towards monetary reforms in India