Manu Bhaskaran

A former senior official in the Singapore Government, Manu Bhaskaran has four decades of experience providing authoritative assessments on economic, political and security issues that shape the region. He is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Centennial Asia Advisors, a subsidiary of the Washington DC-based strategic advisory firm Centennial Group, directing its economic research practice which provides in-depth analysis of macro trends in Asia.

Bhaskaran began his career in Singapore’s Ministry of Defence as a top-tier analyst before joining the private sector. He worked for SocGen Securities as a chief economist and Managing Director in charge of research, prior to taking on his current appointment in the Centennial Group. He has conducted studies on a wide range of issues which include consumer finance in Asia, regional integration, Asian and country-specific outlooks, China’s impact on the landscape, and portfolio capital flows in emerging markets, amongst other subjects of critical interest.

Bhaskaran is a well-regarded commentator on Asian financial and economic affairs, and has regular columns in business weeklies such as The Edge in Singapore/Malaysia. He is an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, Vice-President of the Economic Society of Singapore and Council Member of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs. He is also a member of the International Monetary Fund’s Regional Advisory Group for Asia and the Pacific as well as the Competition Appeals Board in Singapore. He sits on the boards of CIMB Investment Bank and Japfa Limited.

Bhaskaran holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a Bachelor’s degree in economics from Cambridge University.