Press Release No. <a name="P16_75"></a>04/129

First Deputy Managing Director Anne Krueger made the following statement on June 24, 2004 to the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund on Montek Ahluwalia:

"I am deeply disappointed that I cannot be in Washington today as you mark Montek Ahluwalia's departure from the Independent Evaluation Office. So I am grateful to have the opportunity to send this statement to you. I did not want Montek Ahlulawalia's departure to go without passing comment.

"I think we are all agreed that Montek's tenure at the IEO has been an unequivocal success. The challenge of setting up the new office was difficult enough: few people had the intellectual and administrative skills needed to do that successfully. But ensuring that the IEO would be able rapidly to establish a reputation for independent, fair-minded and high-quality analysis was a feat few people could have managed. Almost no-one could have done it with the good-natured flair that Montek Ahluwalia has shown.

"The Fund was extraordinarily lucky to persuade someone of Montek's caliber to come to Washington. It was a challenging assignment, and one not without risks attached. The Fund had long resisted the idea of independent evaluation. After all, it is not always a comfortable experience to have one's work subjected to independent scrutiny. The new office had—in short order—to convince staff that this was a worthwhile exercise and that they could expect fair, if not always uncritical, analysis of their decisions.

"The newly-established IEO also had to persuade the Executive Board that it was capable of providing useful assessments of the Fund's work in a way that drew lessons for the future direction of policy.

"And at the same time, the new office needed to show to a sometimes skeptical outside world that the linked but separate framework agreed on would work. IEO reports had to earn the respect of those who are, by nature, cynical about such evaluation exercises.

"In short, the IEO needed rapidly to demonstrate that the decision to create it was justified. That it has done so in such an impressive way is largely a result of Montek's wise leadership. His warm personal approach is distinctive and makes professional exchanges with him a pleasure. But he combines this with a professional detachment that is both enviable and vital for the IEO's Director.

"Montek has earned the respect and confidence of staff. Nobody fears unfair treatment. He has certainly won the admiration of the Board because of the high professional standards that he has ensured are maintained by the IEO. And there can be no doubt that under Montek, the IEO has made an important contribution both to the work and the standing of the Fund.

"So on a professional level we shall miss him greatly. His will be a hard act to follow.

"But I will miss him too as a personal friend. I have known Montek for close to thirty years. Since he arrived in Washington we have kept our professional and personal contacts separate. As a result, we have enjoyed many happy hours on the golf course, and I have spent many wonderful evenings around the dinner table with Montek and Isher—who we should remember has herself made a distinguished contribution to the economics profession, and whom I will also greatly miss.

"There are two consolations for us, however. The first is that as a result of Montek's ability to attract and retain staff of the highest caliber for the IEO, he leaves behind a strong, well-functioning office that is ready to stand alone, and will continue to serve the work of the Fund well.

"And the second consolation is that our loss will be India's gain. Montek played an important part in the reforms of the early 1990s and it was hardly a surprise that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wanted him back in Delhi. I know Montek will work hard to consolidate India's economic success and build on it.

"For my part I am looking forward to the day when professional business takes me to Delhi, charged with the task of persuading Prime Minister Singh and Montek that India's economy is overheating, and that its growth rate needs to be brought down from 12 percent to a more sustainable 10 percent."