Wednesday, April 6 2005 11:28 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: The Planning Commission yesterday (Apr 5, 2005) emphasised the need for enhancing cooperation with the Finance Ministry in accordance with suggestions given by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

"Really there is no turf issue... what we need is a better cooperation that would give more flexibility. We have to find ways to cooperate with the Finance Ministry much more," Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia told newsmen after the full Planning Commission met last evening to consider the Mid-Term Appraisal of the Tenth Five Year Plan.

Endorsing the concept of medium term budget framework (2-3 years), Singh cited that earlier plans were formulated for five years and there was no basis to say what should happen in the next year or the year after except by looking at the Plan.

"Prime Minister has mooted the idea of medium-term budget and Finance Ministry is working on a medium term budget something of a macro planning," Ahluwalia said.

The new concept would enhance interaction with the Finance Ministry enabling both the Commission and the Ministry to understand each other's constraints and go for anticipatory planning.