Bert Hofman is a Senior Associate Fellow at MERICS. He is the director of the East Asian Institute at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Professor of Practice at the Lee Kuan Yew School. Before joining NUS, he worked with the World Bank for 27 years. Bert was the World Bank Country Director for China (2014-2019), the country economist from (2004-2008), and the Chief Economist for the World Bank in the East Asia and Pacific region from (2011-2014). He also worked on Indonesia, the Philippines, Korea and Mongolia. Before coming to the World Bank, Bert worked at the Kiel Institute of World Economics, the OECD and NMB Bank (now ING).

Bert has extensive experience in advising governments in the East Asia and Pacific region on a wide range of development issues. His research focusses on fiscal policy, debt issues, and China’s and Indonesia’s recent economic history.