At a crucial time when the global financial markets are in turmoil and several countries in Europe and the United States are in recession, PetroFed in its series of Guest Lectures and Thought Leadership Programmes organized a lecture by Prof. B. B. Bhattacharya, Vice Chancellor, Jawaharlal Nehru University who is India’s leading expert on economic modeling and forecasting.  He addressed the issue of ‘Recurring Financial Crisis: Causes & Solutions’ on December 12, 2008 at the Conference Hall at IndianOil Bhavan, New Delhi.

The session was chaired by Shri S. C. Mathur, Director, Essar Oil, former MD, Petronet LNG and Director (Finance), IndianOil who introduced the subject and the speaker.

In a brilliant extempore exposition Prof. Bhattacharya traced the history of global financial turmoils and the current melt down which has engulfed the entire world.

A Ph.D. in Economics from Delhi School of Economics, a UNESCO Fellow at Polish Academy of Sciences and Ford Foundation post doctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, Prof. Bhattacharya was earlier Director and Professor at the Institute of economic growth for over two decades.  He specializes in macro economics, monetary economics, public finance, planning and development and international finance. He has published ten books and over 100 papers in various national and international journals.  His latest book is on Macro Economic Reforms: Growth and Stability.  He has held, and still holds, a large number of distinguished positions in eminent organisations.

Prof. Bhattacharya succinctly brought out the causes of the prevailing financial crisis and provided solutions.  A turn around, according to him may take more than one year.  The keen interest evinced in the lecture was evident by the extended question and answer session by senior industry members present on the occasion.