May 05, 2005

The IEO provides objective and independent evaluation on issues related to the IMF. The Office operates independently of IMF management and at arm's length from the IMF's Executive Board.

IEO staff comprises the Director and 12 other staff, including a Deputy Director, nine professional staff and two administrative assistants. A majority of the IEO staff is recruited from outside the IMF. IEO also engages consultants with particular expertise for specific evaluation projects.

Mr. Thomas A. Bernes has been named Director of the Independent Evaluation Office, effective June 6, 2005. Before taking up this position, he was Secretary of the joint IMF-World Bank Development Committee and Deputy Corporate Secretary of the World Bank. From 1996 to September 2001, Mr. Bernes was the IMF Executive Director for Canada, Ireland and the Caribbean. Prior to that, he was Assistant Deputy Minister of Finance in Canada and served as the senior international economic official representing Canada at high-level meetings. In addition to holding various senior finance, foreign affairs and trade policy positions within the Canadian government, Mr. Bernes served as head of the OECD’s General Trade Policy Division in the mid-1980s. He is a graduate of the University of Manitoba.

See Press Release: IMF Executive Board Selects Thomas A. Bernes as Director of Independent Evaluation Office.