Draft:Ashok Chakravarti

Ashok Chakravarti (born 1 August 1947) is a development economist. He is the Senior Economic Advisor to the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investments Promotion. Since 1980 he has been providing economic policy advice to African governments ^[1][2]. In 2019 he was appointed as Senior Economic Advisor to the Government of Zimbabwe ^[3]. He is also the longest-serving member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, having been appointed in 2020 ^[4][5]. He lives in Harare, Zimbabwe ^[6].

Chakravarti did his schooling in India at the Doon School, Dehra-Dun. He then joined St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University and graduated with a degree in Economics. In 1967 he became a Senior Scholar at Oriel College, Oxford University, eventually completing a Master of Philosophy in Economics in 1972 ^[7]. As a part of his research studies, during the past 20 years, he has been appointed as a Visiting Research Fellow at Oxford University many times ^[8][9].

In the mid-1970’s Chakravarti became an activist in the opposition movement against the government of the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi. In 1975 Mrs. Gandhi declared State of Emergency and subjected India to a period of dictatorial rule. She was, however, defeated in the elections of 1977, and democracy was restored. His experiences as an activist are detailed in a book entitled The Struggle Within: A Memoir of the Emergency, published by Harper Collins ^[10].

After the 1977 elections, Chakravarti joined the Ministry of Industry, Government of India, and was part of the team that undertook policy research that later led to the liberalization of the Indian economy. In 1981 he joined the United Nations (UN) and worked as an Economic Advisor, initially with United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and later with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Harare ^[11]. In 2004 he was appointed as the Chief of Party of a major U.S. Government supported program designed to build the executive structures of the newly emergent war-ravaged country of South Sudan. In this capacity he worked closely with the first President of Southern Sudan, John Garang, and his successor Salva Kiir ^[9][12]. After returning from Southern Sudan, Chakravarti joined the University of Zimbabwe as a Senior Visiting Lecturer. He continued in this position until he joined the government in 2019 ^[13].

He is the author of several papers published in international peer-reviewed journals. His research focus is institutional economics. His most recent article on the concept of self-interest is: “Imperfect Information and Opportunism” ^[14]. His two books on institutional economics are: “Aid, Institutions and Development”, 2006, published by Edward Elgar, U.K. ^[12]. “Institutions, Economic Performance and the Visible Hand”, 2012, published by Edward Elgar, U.K. ^[15].