Biography
Dr Fahmida Khatun
Economist and Executive Director
Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), Bangladesh
Dr Fahmida Khatun is an Economist and the Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), a leading think tank in Bangladesh. Dr Khatun has more than 30 years of experience conducting research and analysis, leading organisations and influencing policies at the national and global levels. Previously, she worked as a Research Fellow at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), an Environment Specialist at the UNDP, and an Economist at the USAID Mission in Bangladesh. She has taught economics at universities in Bangladesh and England and has been a Visiting Fellow at several international research organisations.
At the international level, Dr Khatun regularly serves on policy-making and advisory bodies at home and abroad. She is a member of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Independent Expert Advisory Panel on the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index (MVI). She is a member of the High-level Advisory Board on the Productive Capacities Index of UNCTAD and of the Task Force on Climate, Development, and International Financial Architecture, an initiative of Boston University, USA. In 2023, she served as Co-Chair of the T20 India Task Force on “Accelerating SDGs: Exploring New Pathways to the 2030 Agenda” under the G20 process. She was a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, USA.
At home, Dr Khatun is a member of the Board of Bangladesh Bank. She also serves on the BRAC Board, the world’s largest non-governmental organisation working for the left-behind population. She was a Member of the Task Force on Re-Strategising the Economy and Mobilising Resources for Equitable and Sustainable Development and the Task Force to Strengthen the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), formed by the interim government of Bangladesh during 2024-25. She is a member of the Advisory Committee for the Five-Year Strategic Framework (2026-31) formed by the Government of Bangladesh.
Dr Khatun holds a Masters and a PhD in Economics from University College London (UCL), University of London. She completed her postdoctoral research at Columbia University, USA and undertook joint research with Professor Jeffrey Sachs. She has participated in the Leadership Decision-Making programme at Harvard University in the USA.
Dr Khatun’s areas of expertise include macroeconomic policy, the financial sector, international trade and WTO issues, climate change, environment, energy economics, youth employment, the interlinkages between digital public infrastructure and health, the interests of Least Developed Countries, and women’s contribution to the economy. She has several publications to her credit at home and abroad. Her books and book chapters have been published by international publishers, including Palgrave Macmillan, Springer, Sage Publications, Routledge and Cambridge University Press.
Dr Khatun regularly speaks on economic and national issues in both national and international media, including BBC World Service Television and Al Jazeera Television. She is a columnist for the Daily Star, a leading daily in Bangladesh. She is an invited contributor to the East Asia Forum, based at the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University.
