Thomas Walker is Senior Economist for Sri Lanka and Maldives in the World Bank’s Social Protection and Jobs Global Practice. He holds an MA and PhD in Economics from Cornell University, and a Bachelor of Economics (Hons I) from the University of New South Wales.
His work currently focuses on developing social protection systems to protect livelihoods and promote economic and social inclusion in Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Nepal. He is the World Bank’s team leader for the Sri Lanka Social Safety Nets Project. He has previously worked on poverty and social protection in Bangladesh, Ghana, Morocco, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Tunisia. An Australian national, Thomas joined the World Bank as a Young Professional in 2011.
He previously worked for the Reserve Bank of Australia and Cornell University, and has published in peer-reviewed journals on informal support systems, social networks, agriculture and education investment, and economic modelling.