FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DR. MOSTAFA ASKARI JOINS THE INSTITUTE OF FISCAL STUDIES AND DEMOCRACY @uOTTAWA AS ITS NEW CHIEF ECONOMIST ‘At the nexus of public finance and state institutions’

Ottawa, ON, 9 January 2019 – Kevin Page, President and CEO of the Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy @uOttawa (IFSD), and Canada’s first Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO), is pleased to announce that Dr. Mostafa Askari, former Deputy PBO, has joined the IFSD at its new Chief Economist.

Dr. Askari brings to the IFSD significant expertise in macroeconomics, fiscal analysis, and forecasting. Prior to his decade-long tenure as Deputy PBO, Dr. Askari held key fiscal, analytical, and managerial positions in the federal government, including at Finance Canada and Health Canada, and as a senior advisor to Canada’s Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund.

Dr. Askari returns to campus after having started his career teaching economics at Trent University and obtaining his doctorate at Queen’s University. At the IFSD, he will undertake research, advice, and teaching in fiscal and economic matters. University students, public servants, media, and parliamentarians in Canada and abroad will benefit from his vast experience and ability to communicate to stakeholders.

Dr. Askari replaces Randall Bartlett, the IFSD’s first Chief Economist, who accepted a position in the financial sector.

About the IFSD – The IFSD is a Canadian think-tank sitting at the nexus of public finance and state institutions. It has been funded by the Province of to undertake applied research and student engagement in public finance and its intersection with public administration, politics and public policy. The IFSD undertakes its work in Canada at all levels of government as well as abroad, leveraging partnerships and key relationships with organizations such as the , OECD, IMF and US National Governors Association.

For more information: Jessica Mikhail +1.613-562-5800 x 5628 [email protected]