Abha Prasad is the Lead Economist in the Strategy and Operations unit of the World Bank’s Development Finance Vice Presidency. In her current assignment her key responsibilities include work on IDA’s sustainable development finance policy (SDFP) and debt issues in IDA countries, as well as on country performance-based allocations and crisis response. She brings over 20 years of experience in developing countries and has worked across all regions of the World Bank, with extensive work in small states and sub-nationals.
Prior to this she was the Program Leader for Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions, global practices for the Caribbean Countries, where she was advising on aspects related to macroeconomics, trade and investment, poverty, finance, competitiveness and innovation, and governance. She has also been a lead debt specialist and the Program Manager for the World Bank’s Debt Management Facility. She was supporting the Bank’s debt management advisory and technical assistance work program. Before joining the World Bank, she was the Director with the Reserve Bank of India, managing as part of an expert team the debt of India’s central and 28 state governments. She was actively involved in providing policy advice for framing India’s fiscal responsibility legislation.
She holds a Master’s in Business Economics from the University of Delhi, India, and Master’s in Policy Management from Georgetown University, US. Her publications among others include India’s state government debt, debt management in small states, operational risk management and on building cross-sectoral resilience to shocks in the Caribbean.