Dr Ashikur Rahman is a Senior Economist at the Policy Research Institute [PRI] of Bangladesh and a Member Secretary of Bangladesh Economists’ Forum (BEF) – a leading association of eminent economists from Bangladesh. Prior to this, he completed his Ph.D. in Government {Political Economy} at the London School of Economics. Mr. Rahman also has an MPA in Public and Economic Policy and BSc. in Economics (Hons) from the LSE. He has been a consultant for a number of government bodies and other organizations, including the Planning Commission of Bangladesh, World Bank, UNDP, DFID, IRRI, and JICA. His research interest is in the field of political economy – focusing in areas such as institutions, public policy, economic history and long run determinants of economic performance. Mr. Rahman is specialized in undertaking microeconomic program evaluation and institutional diagnosis – and has contributed to the formulation of flagship national policy documents for the Government of Bangladesh, namely – The Eighth Five Year Plan [2021-2025], The Seventh Five Year Plan [2015-2020] and the National Social Security Strategy. Mr. Rahman has taught graduate level courses in Bangladesh’s leading private university – the North South University – and has previously worked at Bangladesh Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD) and Centre for Policy and Dialogue (CPD). He is a frequent contributor to electronic media, national and international newspapers, such as The Daily Star, Dhaka Tribune, Ittefaq, New Age, The Financial Express, The Business Standard and The Indian Express. He is also a coordinator of the citizens platform – Citizens for Responsible Democracy (CRD).
