Dr Sadiq Ahmed began his career as a Lecturer in Economics at the Dhaka University in 1974 and later worked at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies as a Research Fellow. Dr Ahmed did his MSc from London School of Economics and PhD from Boston University. He joined the Young Professional program of the World Bank in 1981 and held several key positions: Country Economist, Egypt, the Middle East and North Africa Region; Principal Economist, Indonesia, PNG and Pacific Islands, East Asia and Pacific Region; Lead Economist, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan; Country Director, Pakistan and Afghanistan Program; Chief Economist, South Asia Region; Sector Director, Poverty Reduction and Economic Management, Finance and Private Sector, South Asia Region; and Senior Manager, Regional Programs, South Asia Region. He took early retirement from the World Bank in July 2009 to return back to Bangladesh to contribute to the development needs of the country.
Among the many books he published are: Managing Food Price Inflation in South Asia (with Hans Jansen), University Press Limited (Forthcoming 2010); Promoting Regional Cooperation in South Asia: Beyond SAFTA (with Saman Kelegama and Ejaz Ghani), Sage (Forthcoming 2010); South Asia: Accelerating Growth and Creating Jobs (with Ejaz Ghani), Oxford University Press, 2009; South Asia: Growth and Regional Integration (with Ejaz Ghani), Macmillan 2007; India’s Long-Term Growth Experience, Sage, 2007; Making Dhaka Livable (with Junaid Ahmad and Adeeb Mahmud), The University Press Limited, 2007; Growth and Poverty, The Development Experience of Bangladesh (with Wahiduddin Mahmud), The University Press Limited, 2006; Explaining South Asia’s Development Success: The Role of Good Policies, A World Bank Publication, 2006; Transforming Bangladesh Into A Middle Income Economy, Macmillan, 2005; Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics 2003: South Asia Component (with Suman Berry), National Council for Applied Economic Research, New Delhi, 2004. Additionally, Dr. Ahmed has 30 plus articles published in national and international journals, as well as in World Bank publications, on a range of subjects including public finance, international trade, macroeconomic policies, economic growth, poverty analysis and governance.
Dr Ahmed has led key World Bank missions to Egypt, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka. He has interacted regularly with senior government officials including finance ministers and chief ministers of states/provinces. He has participated in numerous international conferences, and has long experience in dealing with leading global multi-lateral agencies such as ADB, DFID, IMF, EU, and IsDB. He is recognized for his skills in doing policy analysis and negotiation and mobilizing international financing for development support. Dr. Ahmed has lectured extensively on key development topics including at the Foreign Policy Training Institute of the US State Department; The Georgetown University in Washington DC; Pakistan Defense College; Pakistan Institute of Development Economics; Indian Statistical Institute (Kolkata); Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations; Indian Institute for Defense Analysis; Sri Lanka Institute for Policy Studies; and the Bangladesh Defense College.