Mr. Ravi Balakrishnan joined AMRO as a Group Head and Lead Economist in February 2026. He oversees country surveillance teams including Indonesia and Brunei. He is also a non-resident fellow of Bruegel and a member of the CEPR Europe-Asia Initiative.
Prior to joining AMRO, Mr. Balakrishnan served as Chief European Economist at J.P. Morgan from 2023 to 2025, managing both advanced and emerging economy teams. He previously spent over 20 years at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). During his tenure from 2001 to 2022, he led the IMF’s Euro area team, served as mission chief for several Latin American countries, worked on the US team in various capacities, and was the IMF’s regional resident representative based out of Singapore. He also co-authored and led chapters of the World Economic Outlook and the Regional Economic Outlooks for Asia and the Pacific and the Western Hemisphere. Earlier in his career, he worked at the Bank of England and Bank of Spain.
Mr. Balakrishnan’s research interests include capital flows, fiscal rules, financial systems, inflation and exchange rate dynamics, inequality, labor markets, and monetary policy. He has published academic papers, blogs, and media articles on a wide range of macroeconomic and financial topics.
He holds a PhD in Economics from the London School of Economics, and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Cambridge.