Apurva Sanghi, currently based in Moscow, is the World Bank’s Lead Economist for the Russian Federation. Prior to that, he was based in Nairobi, Kenya as the Lead Economist for Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Eritrea. Before Kenya, Apurva was based in Washington DC where he led the Economic Growth Cluster of the World Bank’s Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Department. He is a selective commentator on economic issues with views expressed in the pages of major international media outlets such as the Financial Times; the Economist; Project Syndicate, and popular blog sites such as the World Bank’s and Brookings.
Apurva is also a lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC's) Special Report on Extreme Events, and was the team leader for the joint World Bank - UN flagship project on the economics of disasters. He has worked on development topics ranging from infrastructure and climate change to microfinance and agricultural economics. Before joining the World Bank, Apurva worked in private sector consulting; for the Thailand Development Research Institute; and held teaching and research positions at the University of Chicago, Thammasat University (Bangkok), and Yale University.
Apurva holds college degrees in physics and economics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and a PhD from the University of Chicago, where his core training was in growth and macroeconomics.