Financial Stability and Development Council

Table of Contents

Financial Stability and Development Council- Relevance for UPSC Exam

GS Paper 3: Indian Economy-Issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment; Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.

Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) led by the finance minister, is expected to nudge financial regulators to relax and harmonize investment norms for instruments like Infrastructure Investment trusts (InvITs).
- Relaxed investment norms will help in monetizing public assets like highways, gas pipelines and railway tracks.
Other items to be considered by the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC):
- Measures announced in the Union Budget to enable InvITs and REITs to borrow money from FPIs and issue debt securities.
- The efficacy of changes implemented by individual regulators.

The Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) is a non-statutory apex body under the Ministry of Finance.
- Financial Stability and Development Council was constituted by an Executive Order of the Union Government in 2010 as per the recommendations of the Raghuram Rajan Committee (2008) on financial sector reforms.
Funding: It is important to note that no funds are separately allocated to the council for undertaking its activities.

Chairperson: Union Finance Minister heads the Financial Stability and Development Council.
Representation of Financial Regulators: Following Heads of the Financial Sector Regulators are the member of the FSDC-
- Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
- Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA)
- Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)
- Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA)
- Chairman, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI)
Other members of the FSDC include-
- Finance Secretary,
- Chief Economic Advisor and
- Secretary of the Department of Financial Services.
- Minister of State responsible for the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA)
- Secretary of the Department of Electronics and Information Technology
- Revenue Secretary
FSDC sub-committee is headed by the Governor of RBI. It can invite experts to its meeting if required.

Its key is to strengthen and institutionalize the mechanism for maintaining financial stability, enhancing inter-regulatory coordination, and promoting financial sector development.
Other key responsibilities include:
- Ensuring financial inclusion
- Macroprudential supervision of the economy
- Assesses the functioning of large financial conglomerates
- Promoting financial literacy

FSR is published biannually by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
It assesses the risks to financial stability and the resilience of the financial system.