Dr. Acharya is Honorary Professor and Member, Board of Governors at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER).
He was Member, Twelfth Finance Commission (2004) and Member, Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (2001-2003).
During his previous assignment as Chief Economic Adviser (rank of Secretary) to the Government of India from April 1993 to December, 2000 he was closely associated with the Government’s programme of economic reforms as well as with overall macroeconomic management of the economy. He also participated in the reform and development of India’s capital market as Member, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
Dr. Acharya has a B.A. (First class honours) from Oxford University (1967) and a Ph. D. from Harvard University (1972). He worked in the World Bank from 1971 to 1982 and held several senior positions including Director, World Development Report, 1979 and Research Adviser to the World Bank (1979 to 1982). He joined the Finance Ministry in February 1985 as Economic Adviser and served in that capacity till July 1990 when be became Senior Adviser and Additional Secretary.
Aside from being the principal author of World Development Report, 1979 and several World Bank country reports, he has published a number of books and numerous scholarly papers and contributed chapters of several books, mainly on topics in macroeconomic policy, growth, international economics and public finance. His three most recent books are: India’s Economy: Some Issues and Answers, (released by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in September 2003), Essays on Macroeconomic Policy and Growth in India, published by Oxford University Press (2006) and Can India Grow without Bharat?, published by Academic Foundation (2007). He also writes a regular column on economic/financial issues in the Business Standard and is an occasional consultant to international institutions.
He is currently a Board Member of the National Council of Applied & Economic Research (NCAER), Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP). He is non-executive Chairman ofKotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. He also serves on a number of Government, Reserve Bank and corporate advisory committees/groups and is a member of the Board of India Today Economists (BITE).
Dr. Acharya was a Senior Visiting Research Fellow at Stanford University in Spring 2002 and at Merton College, Oxford University in Spring 2000. He has frequently delivered invited lectures in India and abroad.
Recent publications( post 2000) :
“New International Standards for Financial Stability: Desirable Regulatory Reform or a Runaway Juggernaut?”, in Steffany Griffith-Jones and Amar Bhattacharya (ed.), Developing Countries and the Global System, Commonwealth Secretariat, 2001.
“Macroeconomic Management in the Nineties”, Economic and PoliticalWeekly, April 20, 2002.
“India’s Medium Term Growth Prospects”, Economic and PoliticalWeekly, July 13, 2002.
“India: Crisis, Reform and Growth in the Nineties”, Working PaperNo.139, Center for Research on Economic Development and Policy Reform, Stanford University, July 2002.
“Managing India’s External Economic Challenges in the 1990s” in M.S. Ahluwalia, Y.V. Reddy and S.S. Tarapore (eds.), Macro-economics and Monetary Policy, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2002.
India’s Economy: Some Issues and Answers, Academic Foundation, New Delhi, 2003.
(With Robert Cassen and Kirsty McNay), “The Economy-Past and Future”, in T. Dyson, R. Cassen and L. Visaria (eds.), Twenty First Century India, Oxford University Press, 2004.
“India’s Growth Prospects Revisited”, Economic and PoliticalWeekly, October 9, 2004.
(et. al.), Sri Lanka: Development Policy Review, World Bank, Washington DC, 2004.
“Thirty Years of Tax Reform in India”, Economic and Political Weekly, May 14, 2005.
Essays on Macroeconomic Policy and Growth in India Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2006.
“Economic Growth: Some Reflections”, Economic and PoliticalWeekly, November 4, 2006.
Can India Grow without Bharat? Academic Foundation, New Delhi, 2007.
