Dr. Hamid Rashid – Head and Director, Global Economic Monitoring at the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDEA) – is the lead author of the UN flagship report, the World Economic Situation and Prospects, jointly published by UNDESA, UNCTAD, the UN Regional Commissions and UN-WTO. Previously, he served as the Senior Adviser for Macroeconomic Policy in UNDESA, advising finance, central banks and planning authorities in developing countries on fiscal and monetary policy issues. He is in-charge of macroeconomic modeling and forecasting work at the UN. Prior to joining UN/DESA in 2010, Dr. Rashid served as a Senior Adviser in UNDP’s Bureau for Development Policy and also as the Director General for Multilateral Economic Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangladesh.

Dr. Rashid earned his Ph.D. in economics and finance from Columbia University in New York under the supervision of Nobel Laureate Prof. Joseph Stiglitz. In a recent paper, Averting Catastrophic Debt Crises in Developing Countries: Extraordinary Challenges Call for Extraordinary Measures, Dr. Rashid and Prof. Stiglitz warn against the looming risks of a debt crisis in developing countries. Dr. Rashid obtained a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Texas. Dr. Rashid’s research interest includes macroeconomic policies, renewable energy and net zero transition and international finance, their impact on economic growth and sustainable development.