Roland Rajah

Lowy Institute Lead Economist; Director, Indo-Pacific Development Centre
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.

An orthodox economic take on climate change shocks
An orthodox economic take on climate change shocks
Climate change has a significant bearing on macroeconomic outcomes such as growth and inflation.
East Asia’s decoupling
Research Notes
East Asia’s decoupling
East Asia is no longer reliant on US or Western markets to fuel its growth, giving it more room to manage amid global trade tensions.
Stepping up on Pacific infrastructure
Stepping up on Pacific infrastructure
The advantage of concessional loans is grant funding by Australia can be leveraged into a much larger amount.
The G20 in a Zero-Sum World
Commentary
The G20 in a Zero-Sum World
Originally published in Columbia Journal of International Affairs on 28 November 2018.  Roland Rajah
Will geopolitics trump trade?
Will geopolitics trump trade?
Ships and chips and an adversarial strategy exacerbate the likelihood of a Sino-American trade war.
Sliding rupiah causes Jakarta jitters
Sliding rupiah causes Jakarta jitters
Is Indonesia really at risk of “contagion”?
Australia should be encouraging Indonesian growth
Commentary
Australia should be encouraging Indonesian growth
Originally published in Australian Financial Review Roland Rajah
Indonesia is right to put stability before economic growth
Commentary
Indonesia is right to put stability before economic growth
Originally published in Nikkei Asian Review Roland Rajah
Indonesia's economy: Between growth and stability
Analyses
Indonesia's economy: Between growth and stability
Indonesia has much economic potential but the trade-off between growth and stability continues to bind its growth ambitions.
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