Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM)[1] is a non-constitutional, non-permanent and independent body constituted to give economic advice to theGovernment of India, specifically the Prime Minister.[2] The council serves to highlight key economic issues facing the country to the government of India from a neutral viewpoint.[3] It advises the Prime Minister on economic issues likeinflation,microfinance, and industrial output.
The EAC-PM has been constituted several times since the independence of India.
In the latest occurrence, the council was reconstituted by Prime minister Modi on 25 September 2017. Currently EAC-PM chairman post is held by Shri Suman Beri, who is also Vice President of Niti-Aayog.[4][5]
The previous chairman, Chakravarthi Rangarajan[6] resigned on 19 May 2014. He sent his resignation to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.He resigned following the defeat of the Congress-led UPA in the general elections 2014.
Since the term of the EAC-PM was parallel to that of the Prime Minister, with the resignation of the PM Manmohan Singh on 17 May 2014, the EAC-PM also needed to resign.
The Council headed by C Rangrajan had Saumitra Chaudhuri, V.S. Vyas, Pulin B. Nayak and Dilip M. Nachane as members.
Before this, it which was constituted on 29 December 2004, headed bySuresh Tendulkar resigned upon the completion of the then Union government's term on 21 May 2009.[7]
Terms of reference as defined by the EAC-PM are as follows:[3]
The primary role of the PMEAC is to give a neutral viewpoint on economic policy matters that are referred to it by the Prime Minister.[2] Additionally it prepares a monthly report of economic developments that need to be highlighted to the PM. For this purpose it closely monitors national and international economic developments and trends and develops appropriate policy responses for the PM.It publishes reports on the annualEconomic Outlook[8] andReview of the Economy of India.
The EAC-PM is chaired by aChairperson and consists of eminent economists as members.[3] It is supported in its functions by a team of officials and administrators. There is no fixed definition on the exact number of members and staff of the EAC-PM. At one point it was even chaired by the then Prime MinisterAtal Bihari Vajpayee himself.
For administrative, logistic, planning and budgeting purposes, theNITI Aayog serves as the Nodal Agency for the PMEAC.[9]
Bibek Debroy is the current chairman of the current EAC-PM, appointed in 2017.[10]
Dr.C. Rangarajan was the Chairman of the previous PMEAC. Chairman suggests measures to improve the economic condition.[3] He was appointed in August 2009.[11] The Chairman had the rank equivalent to aCabinet Minister of India.[2]
List of Chairpersons:
| No. | Name | Tenure | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Suresh Tendulkar | 2004 | 2009 |
| 2 | C. Rangarajan | 2009 | 2014 |
| 3 | Bibek Debroy | 2017 | 2024 |
The following are currently the members of the PMEAC:[3][12][13]
The previous EAC had, in addition to Dr C Rangarajan, the following members:[15]
In the previous PMEAC, the members of the council were given the rank ofMinister of State.[2] At one time even the former Prime MinisterManmohan Singh was a member of the PMEAC[16]
The previous EAC had the following officials:
The periodic reports of the EAC-PM - the annualEconomic Outlook[8] andReview of the Economy - are the most widely followed. Additionally the remarks and opinions of the Chairman and members of the PMEAC get widespread media coverage and are influential in formulation of the policies of other economic agencies, financial institutions and businesses.[17] Many financial periodicals publish interviews and speeches of PMEAC Chairman[18] to understand the most critical economic woes facing the country likeinflation,monetary measures,[19] etc. Views of the EAC-PM are also sought after to better understand the prospects of economic performance of India like its growth rates[18][20] as well as on policy matters likeautonomy of regulators[21] and cotton export policy.[22] In February 2011, PMEAC recommended to thegovernment to initiate the process of fiscal consolidation given that theinternational financial crisis has started to ease and thegovernment had to re-initiate its commitment to theFiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act.[23]
Among the widely read periodic reports of the PMEAC - the annualEconomic Outlook[8] andReview of the Economy, the following are the latest editions.
Based on the latest assessment of the Economy of India for the financial year 2010–11, the EAC has highlighted the following:[24]
