Newly-formed 15th Finance Commission holds its first meeting

The newly constituted 15th Finance Commission, held its first meeting in Delhi on Monday and touched upon preliminary discussions regarding its terms of reference.

"We covered issues that need to be addressed, went over terms of reference given to us by president," commission chairman NK Singh said.

The commission also agreed that it would expedite meetings with the government and the various stakeholders in order to meet those terms.

Before holding the meeting, the members met Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

Bandhan Bank chairman and former chief economic adviser Ashok Lahiri and NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand have been appointed as part-time members.

An official statement said the commission recognised that it has been assigned wide-ranging terms of reference, which needed to be suitably addressed.

The 15th Finance Commission, whose recommendations will come into effect for the five years starting from April 1, 2020, has been asked to submit its report by 30 October 2019.