NK Singh May Head The 15th Finance Commission
The constitution of the 15th Finance Commission will be notified soon, a senior government official said.
Former expenditure and revenue secretary NK Singh is likely to head the 15th Finance Commission, a top government official told BloombergQuint. The constitution of the commission will be notified soon, the official added.
Singh could not be reached on his phone for a comment.
The finance commission is set up every five years and reviews finances, deficit and debt levels of the central government and states. The panel also suggests devolution of taxes between states and the centre.
The government has budgeted Rs 10 crore in the current financial year for the constitution of 15th Finance Commission, according to 2017-18 Budget document. It’s suggestions will be implemented for a period of five years starting April 1, 2020.
The 14th Finance Commission was chaired by former Reserve Bank of India governor YV Reddy, and had Abhijit Sen, Sushama Nath, M Govinda Rao, and Sudipto Mundle as its members.
Singh was also the chair of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management panel, which had submitted its report to the government in January. The government is yet to adopt changes recommended by this committee whose members included Arvind Subramanian, Urjit Patel, Sumit Bose and Rathin Roy.
He was a member of the Rajya Sabha from Bihar and has served on the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs and the Committee on Local Area Development Scheme, the Public Accounts Committee, the Consultative Committee on Finance, according to Singh’s website.