The Indian government revised the norms governing financial transactions undertaken by the government of India as a follow-up step to the earlier decision of advancing the budget presentation date.
The revised General Financial Rules (GFR) 2017 were released by finance minister Arun Jaitley at the Conference of the Financial Advisors (FAs) in Delhi on Tuesday.
The revision is only the third after they were first introduced in 1947. The modifications were made subsequently in 1963 and 2005.
It may be recalled that for the first time, the Indian government moved away from the practice of presenting on the last working day of February and presented it on the 1st last month.
Earlier, Jaitley had said that the Finance Bill containing budget proposals on levy of taxes and allocation of funds, among other things, will be passed by the end of this month.
A senior finance ministry bureaucrat said the revised GFRs will enhance efficiency in the system and benefit all.
"The new GFRs 2017 will enable an improved, efficient and effective framework of fiscal management while providing the necessary flexibility to facilitate timely delivery of services," Ashok Lavasa, finance secretary, said in a statement.
Last Saturday, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council cleared the draft laws for Central GST (CGST) and Integrated GST (IGST). The two legislations will now be taken up for passage when the Parliament convenes for the second half of the Budget Sesssion scheduled to begin from Thursday.
In another development, Rajnath Singh, union home minister, said that he will brief the Parliament on Thursday after the Lucknow terror incident.
