Press Release: IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn Announces Department Director Appointments
IMF News, May 27, 2008
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- Published: May 27, 2008
Overview
- Press Release No. 08/122
- Date: May 27, 2008
- Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn announced his intention to appoint four Department Directors:
- Mr. Olivier Blanchard as Economic Counsellor and Director of the Research Department.
- Ms. Antoinette Sayeh as Director of the African Department.
- Mr. Andrew Tweedie as Director of the Finance Department.
- Mr. Reza Moghadam as Director of the Policy Development and Review Department (PDR).
- Mr. Strauss-Kahn described the appointments as comprising "two external appointments to the Research and African Departments and two internal appointments to Finance and PDR."
Olivier Blanchard — Economic Counsellor and Director of the Research Department
- Current role at announcement: Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
- Profile highlights:
- Held numerous policy and academic advisory positions worldwide.
- Recognized academic in international macroeconomics with a wealth of publications.
- Publications cover topics including global imbalances and current account adjustment, financial assets and bubbles, savings and investment behavior, labor market performance, fiscal and monetary policy decision-making processes, and the economics of transition economies.
- Mr. Strauss-Kahn: "Olivier Blanchard's impressive and policy-oriented publications span almost every field of relevance to the Fund..."
- Expected start date: September 1.
Antoinette Sayeh — Director of the African Department
- Current role at announcement: Liberia's Finance Minister.
- Career background:
- Led government's efforts to rebuild and reform Liberia's economy.
- Previously held managerial and advisory-level positions at the World Bank, including Country Director for Benin, Niger and Togo, and Advisor to Mr. Sven Sandstrom, Managing Director of the World Bank.
- Mr. Strauss-Kahn: "Antoinette Sayeh brings to the Fund impressive leadership and communications skills, as well as highly relevant policymaking experience."
- Expected start date: July 7.
Andrew Tweedie — Director of the Finance Department
- Background:
- Member of the IMF Finance Department's senior management team for the last four years (as of the announcement).
- Previously worked in several other Fund departments.
- Served as an advisor to Deputy Managing Directors Shigemitsu Sugisaki and Takatoshi Kato.
- Contributions cited:
- Played a pivotal role in the Fund's quota and voice reform and in the development of a new income model.
- Demonstrated strategic thinking, capacity to innovate, and ability to work well with stakeholders.
- Expected start date: by September 1.
Reza Moghadam — Director of the Policy Development and Review Department (PDR)
- Current role at announcement: Head of the Managing Director's office.
- Experience:
- Worked across strategic, policy, country and administrative issues.
- Contributed to the development of the Medium-Term Strategy and the Strategic Directions papers.
- Held senior positions in the Asia and Pacific and in the European Departments of the Fund.
- Mr. Strauss-Kahn: "Reza Moghadam has a track record of outstanding performance in a number of highly demanding assignments across the Fund..."
- Expected start date: by September 1.
Source: IMF press release dated May 27, 2008 (Press Release No. 08/122).