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 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar has been appointed as a part-time member of the Dr Arvind Panagariya-headed 16th Finance Commission, it was announced on Saturday. 

“The President has appointed T. Rabi Sankar, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), as a part-time Member of the 16th Finance Commission (XVIFC),” the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

“He will hold office from the date of assuming charge until the submission of the Commission's Report or 31st October, 2025, whichever is earlier,” the minister informed.

The appointment of Sankar is consequent to the resignation of one of the full-time Members of the XVIFC, Ajay Narayan Jha, on personal grounds.

The XVIFC was constituted on 31st December, 2023, with Dr Panagariya, former Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog, as its chairman.

From January 2015 to August 2017, he served as the first Vice Chairman of the NITI Aayog, Government of India in the rank of a Cabinet Minister. During these years, he also served as India’s G20 Sherpa and led the Indian teams that negotiated the G20 Communiqués during presidencies of Turkey (2015), China (2016) and Germany (2017).

Professor Panagariya is a former Chief Economist of the Asian Development Bank, and was on the faculty of the Department of Economics at the University of Maryland at College Park from 1978 to 2003.

The commission, chaired by Panagariya, has four members and is assisted by Secretary Ritvik Pandey, two joint secretaries and one economic advisor.

The XVIFC is mandated to submit its recommendations by 31st October, 2025, for the award period of five years commencing from 1st April, 2026.

Retired bureaucrat Annie George Mathew and economist Manoj Panda are full-time members of the commission, while SBI Group Chief Economic Advisor, Soumya Kanti Ghosh, is a part-time member.