Government appoints Arvind Panagariya as sixteenth Finance Commission chief

Arvind Panagariya has been appointed as the chairman of the 16th Finance Commission. The commission will submit its report for the five-year period (2026-27 to 2030-31) to the President by October 31, 2025. The Union Cabinet last month approved the Terms of Reference (ToR) of the 16th Finance Commission.

He is an Indian-American economist who served as the first vice chairman of NITI Aayog. He is currently a Professor of Indian political economy at the Columbia University, US. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2012 for his contributions in the field of economics and Public Policy. The 71-year-old is also former chief economist of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Panagariya has worked in various capacities with the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

Panagariya holds a Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University. He has served as a member of the International Advisory Board, SEBI. He is married to Amita and has two sons -- Ananth Hirsh (a comic book author) and Ajay (a technologist and entrepreneur). His brother, Dr Ashok Panagariya, is a noted neurologist and medical researcher.