Farah Zahir is currently a Senior Economist with the World Bank after serving as the Country Economist in India. Her core areas of expertise have been Fiscal Policy and Growth, Financial Sector and Macroeconomic Management, and Fiscal Federalism. She has led several complex and large lending operations of the Bank in India which includes the First Development Policy Loan Bank-wide on Statistical Strengthening in India, the Karnataka Panchayat Strengthening Project and recently led the preparation of Strengthening Governance and Service Delivery in Karnataka Panchayats.
She is currently the Task Team Leader of the India: Bihar Panchayat Strengthening Project. She has organized high profile conferences and workshops on the role of fiscal policy and its impact on India’s economic development. She has been a member of various high-level Government of India committees on Decentralization and Service Delivery and has represented the Bank in various conferences and workshops. She has worked closely with policy makers and senior bureaucrats in India, Maldives and Sri Lanka. Farah started her career at the World Bank as a Research Analyst in Poverty Reduction and Economic Management (PREM) where she had won an Excellence Award in Economic and Sector Work for a report titled ‘Uttar Pradesh – From Fiscal Crisis to Renewed Growth’ and received several spot awards for projects and reports as a Research Analyst.
She is currently the Task Team Leader of the India: Bihar Panchayat Strengthening Project. She has organized high profile conferences and workshops on the role of fiscal policy and its impact on India’s economic development. She has been a member of various high-level Government of India committees on Decentralization and Service Delivery and has represented the Bank in various conferences and workshops. She has worked closely with policy makers and senior bureaucrats in India, Maldives and Sri Lanka. Farah started her career at the World Bank as a Research Analyst in Poverty Reduction and Economic Management (PREM) where she had won an Excellence Award in Economic and Sector Work for a report titled ‘Uttar Pradesh – From Fiscal Crisis to Renewed Growth’ and received several spot awards for projects and reports as a Research Analyst.