Krishnan Sharma

Krishnan Sharma is Chief of the Strategic Engagement Unit in the Financing for Development Office of the United Nations. He has been the lead economist for analyzing substantive issues and trends relating to domestic and international private finance for sustainable development and providing policy recommendations. He has engaged closely with representatives from the private sector, multilateral agencies, academia and think tanks on financing for sustainable development issues and has been responsible for facilitating the widespread participation of financial institutions, institutional investors and domestic and international enterprises in major UN International Conferences on Financing for Development. Krishnan presently leads the UN secretariat team that supports the work of the Global Investors for Sustainable Development (GISD) Alliance, a group of international business leaders convened by the United Nations Secretary-General to facilitate the scaling up of private finance and investment necessary for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Krishnan’s experience includes collaborating with the World Economic Forum to devise ways to mitigate the risks faced by private investors in infrastructure projects in developing countries. He has undertaken extensive research on economic and financial issues relating to emerging economies in Asia and Latin America and has published papers and books on a range of topics including public private partnerships, corporate bond market development, GDP-linked securities, global economic governance, remittances, diaspora finance and entrepreneurship. Prior to joining the United Nations, Krishnan worked in the financial sector in London. He was a Senior Economist at the Henley Centre for Forecasting and later a Global Economic Advisor at Old Mutual International Asset Managers.