Roland Rajah

Lowy Institute Lead Economist; Director, Indo-Pacific Development Centre
Areas of expertise

International economic policy; Asia Pacific economies; macroeconomics; economic development; aid and development finance; globalisation; geo-economics.  

Roland Rajah
Biography
Publications

Roland Rajah is Director of the Indo-Pacific Development Centre, a dedicated policy research centre within the Lowy Institute. The Centre is committed to producing fresh policy insights and ideas on the most pressing economic development challenges facing the Indo-Pacific region — principally focusing on the emerging and developing economies of Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands and South Asia. He also serves as the Lowy Institute’s Lead Economist, a position he has held since joining the Institute in 2017.

Roland directs the overall work program of the Indo-Pacific Development Centre across its key thematic pillars of post-Covid growth and development, globalisation and regional integration, climate change and development, technology and digital economy, aid and development finance, and geoeconomics. The Centre also houses the Lowy Institute Pacific Aid Map project, which provides the world’s most comprehensive data tracking of all official aid and other development finance flows to the Pacific Islands.

A development economist by background, Roland has extensive experience working across both emerging Asia and the small island developing states of the Pacific. He has previously worked for the Asian Development Bank, Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), and the Reserve Bank of Australia. Roland holds a master’s degree in economics from the Australian National University, where he was awarded the Helen Hughes Prize in International and Development Economics. He also serves on the board of the Cambodia Development Resource Institute, one of Southeast Asia’s leading independent policy research think tanks.

COVIDcast: The future of globalisation
COVIDcast: The future of globalisation
The latest episode in a podcast to discuss the implications of coronavirus for Australia, the region and the world.
COVIDcast: The future of globalisation
Podcasts
COVIDcast: The future of globalisation
In this episode of COVIDcast, Roland Rajah, Lowy Institute lead economist, sat down with Pascal Lamy to discuss the future of globalisation. 
Keeping Indonesia’s Economy Afloat Through the COVID-19 Pandemic
Policy Briefs
Keeping Indonesia’s Economy Afloat Through the COVID-19 Pandemic
Well-crafted emergency financing from Bank Indonesia and international partners such as Australia could be pivotal in getting Indonesia through this crisis
Emerging From COVID: Policy Responses To The Pandemic
Interactives
Emerging From COVID: Policy Responses To The Pandemic
In this new feature, Lowy Institute experts provide policy recommendations for Australia to address issues that are critical to our nation’s — and the world’s —…
Emerging from COVID: Policy Responses to the Pandemic
Policy Briefs
Emerging from COVID: Policy Responses to the Pandemic
Lowy Institute experts provide policy recommendations for Australia to address issues that are critical to our nation's — and the world's — successful emergence from the pandemic.
COVIDcast: World economy in flux
COVIDcast: World economy in flux
The latest episode in a podcast to discuss the implications of coronavirus for Australia, the region, and the world.
COVIDcast: Adam Tooze on a world economy in flux
Podcasts
COVIDcast: Adam Tooze on a world economy in flux
Roland Rajah, Lowy Institute lead economist, sits down with Adam Tooze, Professor of History at Columbia University and the Director of its European Institute, to discuss how the…
Aiding the Pacific during Covid – a stock-take and further steps
Aiding the Pacific during Covid – a stock-take and further steps
Money is flowing, but the proportion of support is well below amounts advanced economies are deploying for themselves.
​​​​​​​COVIDcast Episode 12: Pandemic, emerging markets, and US dollar
​​​​​​​COVIDcast Episode 12: Pandemic, emerging markets, and US dollar
The latest episode in a podcast to discuss the implications of coronavirus for Australia, the region and the world.
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