Arvind Panagariya, the former Chairman of NITI Aayog, has been appointed as the head of the 16th Finance Commission. The current Joint Secretary of Finance Ritvi Ranjanam Pandey will retain his position as an officer on special duty for the "advance cell",
The former NITI Aayog Chairman left the think tank in August 2017 after a two-year stint.
As per media reports, earlier this year, Panagariya said that India could become the third-largest economy by 2026. "At this rate, India’s GDP in current dollars will reach $5 trillion in 2026 and $5.5 trillion in 2027. This means that there are good prospects that India will become the world’s third economy by the end of 2026, sooner than nearly all current predictions," Business Today reported quoting the famous economist.