Panagariya, 1st chief of Niti, to head finance panel

Columbia University professor and the first vice chairman of Niti Aayog Arvind Panagariya has been appointed the chairman of the 16th Finance Commission. The government is, however, yet to name the other members of the panel, which has an open mandate unlike finance commissions in recent years, where the Centre provided a large set of terms of reference.

For many, Panagariya’s appointment came as a surprise since the last four commissions were headed by those who had long stints either in the finance ministry or RBI.

Barring the two-and-a-half years that he spent at Niti Aayog, the former Asian Development Bank chief economist has focused on academics. He is currently the Jagdish Bhagwati professor of Indian political economy & professor of economics and director of Raj Centre on Indian Economic Policies.