Advice as stimulus

PM does well to bring back the Economic Advisory Council

The decision to reconstitute the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) to the prime minister, which had been rendered defunct after the previous government demitted office in May 2014, is a welcome step. The move to bring back the EAC comes on a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was expected to announce an economic stimulus package. That the package did not materialise makes it apparent that the government has ignored several voices that called for a more lax fiscal policy. In that context, the formation of the EAC suggests that it could play a critical role in advising the prime minister