Rachel Ngai, Anna Valero and Gene Frieda (left to right)
Rachel Ngai, Anna Valero, and Gene Frieda have been appointed to the Office for Budget Responsibility's (OBR) advisory panel this month, alongside 22 other members.
Established in 2011, the panel was set up to develop and scrutinise the OBR’s work programme and forecasting methods.
Originally comprising leading economic and fiscal experts, the panel was expanded this year to include experts in macroeconomics and econometrics; public sector finances and public economics; financial markets and corporate finance; energy and climate change; health and longevity and labour market and migration.
The OBR will conduct annual meetings with the panel to discuss long-term work planning and will work with topic experts in the run-up to relevant publications. Members of the panel will share insights on developments in their fields and provide input on key forecast issues, methods, and analysis.
Commenting on her appointment, Distinguished Policy Fellow at the Centre for Economic Performance at LSE, Anna Valero said: “I am excited to become a member of the OBR’s advisory panel at this crucial time for UK growth and the net zero transition.
“I look forward to providing insights relevant for their economy and fiscal forecasts, drawing on our research at the Centre for Economic Performance and the Programme on Innovation and Diffusion. In particular, I hope to contribute perspectives based on my empirical research on UK growth and productivity, the drivers of business investment and the implications of net zero for the economy.”
On her appointment, Associate Professor Rachel Ngai from the Department of Economics said: “I am delighted to be joining the OBR’s advisory panel and contributing to its important work for public finances.”
Commenting on his appointment, Gene Frieda, a Senior Visiting Fellow in the School of Public Policy at LSE and a Global Strategist at PIMCO said: “In my three decades as a market strategist and practitioner, I’ve seen way too many cases of countries whose macro stability comes unglued due to a failure of good fiscal policy advice to governments. The UK is unique in having a fiscal oversight body with strong moral authority to provide unbiased advice to both the governments and the markets on the trajectory of fiscal policy and debt dynamics.
“As a member of the OBR’s advisory panel, I hope to explore ways to better link the feedback loop between markets and policies to how the OBR thinks about and projects the evolution of the UK’s debt dynamics. This should only add to the OBR’s credibility over time.”
To find out more, please visit: External engagement - Office for Budget Responsibility (obr.uk)