Hello Aspirant,

Delight to know you want to be an economist. A great choice of career.  Now coming back to your question. Dear Tan JN, you can be an economist by acquiring a Phd degree in economics or at least a master's degree in the same subject. Most Government jobs positions are filled with people who have acquired a phD in economics while there many other jobs like that of consultant where you just need to get a master's degree.

If you are in 12th then you should go BA honours in economics so that you have a strong base from the beginning and then master's in the same subject and PhD in any topic of ecoomics after which you can apply to the economists job in government sector.

Hope it helps.

All the best :)