IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde Appoints Jihad Azour as Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department

IMF News, December 1, 2016

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Canonical URL: IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde Appoints Jihad Azour as Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department

Appointment announced by Ms. Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Jihad Azour will assume the new position on March 1, 2017.
He will replace Masood Ahmed, who left the Fund in October.
Press Release No. 16/532

Ms. Lagarde: “Mr. Azour brings a very well-rounded perspective, having held senior leadership roles both in government, as Lebanon’s Minister of Finance, and in private sector firms.”
Ms. Lagarde: “Combining analytical insight and a proven ability to bring people together collaboratively and constructively, he will help the Fund contribute effectively and pragmatically to the key issues facing the region today.”
Role: Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department — expected to contribute to key regional issues through pragmatic and effective engagement.

Served as Lebanon’s Finance Minister from 2005-2008.
- Coordinated implementation of important reform initiatives at the national level and within the Finance Ministry.
- Spearheaded the Paris III International Conference for Lebanon, which was instrumental in raising international financial support for Lebanese reconstruction.
- Chaired the G8-MENA Ministerial Group from 2006–2008, bringing together finance ministers and central bank governors from the G8 and Middle East and North Africa region.
Private sector roles:
- Vice president and senior executive advisor at Booz and Company from 2009-2013.
- Since 2013, managing partner at advisory and investment firm Inventis Partners (described as “since then” in the source).
Advisory and panel involvement:
- Sat on the Fund’s Advisory Group for the Middle East.
- Sat on the World Bank’s Independent Panel of Experts.

PhD in International Finance, Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris.
Post-graduate degree in International Economics and Finance, Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris.
Post-doctoral research on emerging economies and their integration into the global economy as a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard.
Master’s degree in Applied Economics and Finance from Dauphine University, Paris.
Dual national of France and Lebanon.

Press Release No. 16/532, December 1, 2016 (IMF).