World Bank appoints Kaushik Basu as chief economist

Kaushik Basu, who was the chief economic advisor in the finance ministry until July, will take over as the chief economist at the World Bank on October 1. World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim today announced Basu’s appointment.

"Having worked in ministry of finance, in addition to his impressive academic achievements, Kaushik is uniquely suited to help us offer evidence-based solutions and advice to client countries and provide innovative excellence in leading our development research,” Kim said in a press release posted on the World Bank site.

In his two-and-a-half-year stint in the finance ministry, Basu gave some pioneering thoughts on food coupons and innovative ways to tackle corruption among other advices.

 

At a time when the Reserve Bank of India was tightening its monetary stance to control inflation, Basu had suggested the Turkish model where the central bank succeeded in tackling inflation and boosting growth through monetary easing.

An inter-ministerial group headed by him had suggested opening up the multi-brand retail to foreign investment to fight food inflation problems and augment food supply.

The Cabinet’s decision to reform the retail sector, however, is still on hold. Basu’s advice to fix subsidy on diesel a litre, given out in the latest Economic Survey, is yet to find takers among policy makers.

“Kaushik brings first-hand experience from a developing country and will be a terrific asset to the institution,” Kim said.

Earlier this month, former International Monetary Fund chief economist Raghuram Rajan replaced Basu as India's chief economic adviser.

Basu, who holds a PhD from the London School of Economics, founded the Centre for Development Economics at the Delhi School of Economics in 1992 and is a founding member of the Madras School of Economics.

He has held visiting professorial positions at Harvard University, the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton University, the London School of Economics and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.