Date:02/05/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/05/02/stories/2007050201020900.htm

National

Subbarao appointed Secretary of DEA

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Duvvuri Subbarao on Monday joined Finance Minister P. Chidambaram's team at the North Block as Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs (DEA).

His appointment, according to an official statement here, is against the vacancy arising out of the retirement of Finance Secretary Ashok Jha. Prior to this assignment, Dr. Subbarao was working as Secretary to the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council.

A 1972 batch IAS officer (Andhra Pradesh cadre), Dr. Subbarao has wide experience on issues in public finance and has held important posts in this field for the last 18 years. He was a Joint Secretary in the DEA during 1988-1993 when economic reforms were initiated. He also served as Finance Secretary to the Government of Andhra Pradesh (1993-98) and was actively involved in initiating fiscal reforms at the State level.

During 1999-2004, Dr. Subbarao was lead economist in the World Bank and worked on issues of public finance in Africa and East Asia. While in the World Bank, he undertook a flagship study on decentralisation across the major countries in East Asia — China, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Cambodia.

Incidentally, Dr. Subbarao, one of the first IIT products to join the civil services, had also topped the IAS in his batch. Subsequent to joining the IAS, he did his MS in Economics from Ohio State University (1978). He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Andhra University.