Sir Sumantra "Suma" Chakrabarti (born 1959) is a former British civil servant who served as president of the

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is an international financial institution founded in 1991. As a multilateral developmental investment bank, the EBRD uses investment as a tool to build market economies. Initially focus ...

(EBRD) from July 2012 to July 2020. He was previously the highest ranking Indian in Britain's civil service, serving as

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day ...

to the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

and Clerk of the Crown in Chancery from late 2007 until 2012.

Early life and education

Chakrabarti was born in 1959 in

Jalpaiguri Jalpaiguri is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Jalpaiguri district as well as of the Jalpaiguri division of West Bengal, covering the jurisdiction of the five districts of North Bengal. The city is loca ...

, West Bengal, India. He was educated at City of London School;

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

(BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics); and the

University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

(MA in Development Economics).

Career in the civil service

Chakrabarti joined the UK's Overseas Development Administration (ODA), the predecessor to the

Department for International Development , type = Department , logo = DfID.svg , logo_width = 180px , logo_caption = , picture = File:Admiralty Screen (411824276).jpg , picture_width = 180px , picture_caption = Department for International Development (London office) (far right ...

, in 1984 as a senior economic assistant working on macroeconomics issues and UK aid projects. He previously worked in

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

on an Overseas Development Institute Fellowship. He was seconded by the UK government to the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...

and the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

in the 1980s. On returning to the ODA in London, he became Private Secretary to the Conservative

Lynda Chalker Lynda Chalker, Baroness Chalker of Wallasey, , (; born 29 April 1942) is a British Conservative politician who was the Member of Parliament for Wallasey from 1974 to 1992. She served as Minister of State for Overseas Development and Africa a ...

, then

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

for Overseas Development based at the Foreign Office. Chakrabarti subsequently became Head of Aid Policy and Resources. He moved to

H.M. Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury), occasionally referred to as the Exchequer, or more informally the Treasury, is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and eco ...

in 1996 before taking a

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for supporting the prime minister and Cabinet. It is composed of various units that support Cabinet committees and which co-ordinate the delivery of government objecti ...

post responsible for creating the new central Performance and Innovation Unit to support the Prime Minister,

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

, co-ordinating reviews of long-term issues that cross public sector institutional boundaries. Still in the Cabinet Office, he headed the Economic and Domestic Affairs Secretariat, also maintaining a foot in the then Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions. In 2001, returning to the Department for International Development (DfID), the successor body to the ODA, Chakrabarti became DfID Director-General for Regional Development Programmes, managing 1,200 staff in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America. On 8 December 2009, he gave evidence to

The Iraq Inquiry The Iraq Inquiry (also referred to as the Chilcot Inquiry after its chairman, Sir John Chilcot)2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

. From 2007 to 2012, he served as a

(senior civil servant) to the UK's

. During that period, he also held office as Clerk of the Crown in Chancery, and, as such, was responsible for the running of the Crown Office, under the directions of the

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The ...

. He was appointed on 15 November 2007.

President of the EBRD

Chakrabarti served two full terms as president from 2012 to 2020. In his last weeks as EBRD President, Chakrabarti made a number of think tank appearances where he discussed the current state of international development and its principal actors.

Later career

By the end of his term at EBRD, Chakrabarti denied any immediate plans to return to the UK civil service. On July 2, 2020, ODI announced the appointment of Chakrabarti as its next Chair of the Board of Trustees. Also in 2020, he was appointed by the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

’s Regional Office for Europe to serve as a member of the Pan-European Commission on Health and Sustainable Development, chaired by

Mario Monti Mario Monti, (born 19 March 1943) is an Italian economist and academic who served as the Prime Minister of Italy from 2011 to 2013, leading a technocratic government in the wake of the Italian debt crisis. Monti served as a European Commiss ...

. Chakrabarti serves as deputy chairman of the Council for Reforms for the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Personal life

Chakrabarti is married and has one daughter.

Offices held

References

External links

Profile on Ministry of Justice website

ODI website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chakrabarti, Suma People educated at the City of London School Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for Justice Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for International Development Civil servants in the Ministry of Overseas Development Civil servants in the Cabinet Office Private secretaries in the British Civil Service Members of HM Government Economic Service Living people Alumni of New College, Oxford Alumni of the University of Sussex Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Presidents of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Indian emigrants to England 1959 births English people of Bengali descent People from Jalpaiguri Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom