PM seeks more names for appointment of CEA

The appointment of the Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) in the Finance Ministry is likely to be delayed further as Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants more names of prospective candidates for the job.

The appointment of the Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) in the Finance Ministry is likely to be delayed further as Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants more names of prospective candidates for the job.

The post of CEA has been lying vacant for over a year now after Raghuram Rajan took over as RBI Governor on September 4 last year.

The Ministry has presented an interim budget and a full fledged budget without a formal CEA in office.

The Finance Ministry had earlier suggested some names, including that of US-based economist Arvind Subramanian, as probable candidates for the post of CEA.

The Prime Minister has not yet taken a decision on it as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was unwell and out of office for over a month now.

Modi, according to sources, did not like the concept of names of same set of persons coming up for consideration every time there is a vacancy.

The Finance Ministry may be required to submit a list of fresh names for the post of CEA.

With Jaitley getting discharged from the hospital, some headway is likely to be made towards appointment of CEA.