ERSA Team

Chris is the Head of the Economic Research Department at the South African Reserve Bank, responsible for forecasting, global economic analysis, and the writing of the Monetary Policy Review.  He is a member of the SARB’s Monetary Policy Committee and Financial Stability Committee.From 2006 to 2011 he was the Deputy Director-General for Economic Policy in the National Treasury and worked extensively on economic growth and governance, including contributions to the Growth Commission of the World Bank, the Committee on IMF Governance Reform (2009), and the development of the country’s relation

Lucas holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of North Carolina, a Master's degree from the University of Sao Paulo, and a bachelor's degree from the Sao Paulo School of Economics. He is a Policy Associate at ERSA since June 2021. His research interests lie in the intersection between finance, macroeconomics, development economics, and firm dynamics, especially on the real effects of financial development.

Neryvia is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Economics at the University of Cape Town, a Policy Associate at ERSA and a Research Fellow at the South African Reserve Bank. Her research interests lie in the field of public economics covering topics such as labour markets, education, health, social grants, inequality and taxation.

Matthew has extensive experience in economic policy. He was responsible for the Budget and Public Finance portfolios in his role as a deputy director-general at the National Treasury. While at the International Monetary Fund, Matthew supported member countries with fiscal analysis and the development of fiscal and budget frameworks.

Isaah is the Chief Economist of Alexander Forbes. In this position, he’s responsible for formulating the macroeconomic strategy for the business, which entails identifying systemic economic risks and opportunities that benefit the business and its clients. He contributes to Alexander Forbes investment process through generating the macro framework for asset allocation and investment committee.