<p>Ahead of the beginning Budget preparations from September 4, the Finance Ministry on Monday put in place a team of senior bureaucrats headed by Ratan P Watal, who was designated as Finance Secretary. <br /><br /></p>.<p>The 59-year-old Watal is a 1978 batch IAS officer from the Andhra Pradesh cadre and is the senior-most bureaucrat in the finance ministry. Watal was until now the Expenditure Secretary. <br /><br />Last week, the government had moved Shaktikant Das as Economic Affairs Secretary from the Revenue Department and brought in Hasmukh Adhia as the new Revenue Secretary. <br /><br />This is for the first time that the posts of Economic Affairs and Finance have been separated in the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government. <br />Before this, Rajiv Mehrishi headed both the Finance and Economic Affairs Departments.</p>
<p>Ahead of the beginning Budget preparations from September 4, the Finance Ministry on Monday put in place a team of senior bureaucrats headed by Ratan P Watal, who was designated as Finance Secretary. <br /><br /></p>.<p>The 59-year-old Watal is a 1978 batch IAS officer from the Andhra Pradesh cadre and is the senior-most bureaucrat in the finance ministry. Watal was until now the Expenditure Secretary. <br /><br />Last week, the government had moved Shaktikant Das as Economic Affairs Secretary from the Revenue Department and brought in Hasmukh Adhia as the new Revenue Secretary. <br /><br />This is for the first time that the posts of Economic Affairs and Finance have been separated in the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government. <br />Before this, Rajiv Mehrishi headed both the Finance and Economic Affairs Departments.</p>
