New Delhi, May 20 (IANS): The first meeting of the 15th Finance Commission's committee on 'Fiscal Consolidation Roadmap' is scheduled to be held on Thursday, through video conferencing.

An official statement said that one of the Terms of Reference (ToRs) of the 15th Finance Commission is to make recommendations on the fiscal consolidation roadmap of the Central and state governments, taking into account their responsibility to adhere to appropriate levels of debt and deficit levels, while fostering higher inclusive growth, guided by the principles of equity, efficiency and transparency.

In pursuance of this term of reference, the Finance Commission constituted a committee to review the fiscal consolidation roadmap March 18 under the chairmanship of N.K. Singh, who is also the Chairman of the 15th Finance Commission.

A major mandate of the commission is to work out the fiscal consolidation roadmap for the period, 2021-22 to 2025-26.

This task has been complicated by the extraordinary situation caused by the spread of the pandemic and the concomitant fiscal compulsions on the Central and state governments.

Responding to the situation, the Union government has given additional borrowing space of 2 percentage points of GDP to the state governments, apart from the 3 per cent that was already available.

"In order to take stock of the emerging fiscal scenarios and to chart the way forward, an online meeting of the aforesaid committee has been scheduled for tomorrow," the Finance Commission statement said.

The meeting is likely to be attended by N.K. Singh, Ajay Narayan Jha and Anoop Singh, members of the Finance Commission among others.