Bassem Kamar

Chief Economist and Acting Head of Research and Statistics Department, Central Bank of the UAE

Bassem Kamar is the Chief Economist and Acting Head of Research and Statistics Department of the Central Bank of the UAE. Previously, he served as the Lead Economist for the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean Region of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). He served for 12 years at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), first as economist for the Middle East Division of the Institute for Capacity Development (ICD) in Washington DC, and subsequently as expert on macroeconomic and structural reform policies in the Middle East and Africa; and his most recent assignment was Senior Economist at the IMF’s Middle East Center for Economics and Finance (Kuwait). He was also Professor of Economics at the International University of Monaco since 2002 and lectured at the American University in Cairo in 2021. In academia, his responsibilities also included the positions of Director of Research and Director of the Doctoral Program at the International University of Monaco (Monaco). He held other managerial positions as General Manager of Global Economic and Finance Consulting (Monaco) and Managing Director of the Egyptian Company for International Trading (Egypt). He publishes in the areas of international economics, monetary policy, public finances, economic transition and development, and has earned numerous international research awards. Dr. Kamar holds a Ph.D. and Post-Doctoral Habilitation (HDR) in economics from the University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis.