{
  "title": "Press Release: Antoinette Sayeh, Director of the African Department, to Retire from the Fund",
  "publication": "IMF News, June 8, 2016",
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2015/09/14/01/49/pr16267",
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  "summary": "Press Release No. 16/267",
  "publishDate": "2016-06-08",
  "sections": [
    {
      "heading": "Announcement",
      "content": "- Press Release No. 16/267\n- Date: June 8, 2016\n- Ms. Antoinette Sayeh has notified IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde of her intention to retire from the Fund, effective August 31, 2016.\n- Contact for media: IMF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT, Media Relations\n  - E-mail: media@imf.org\n  - Phone: 202-623-7100"
    },
    {
      "heading": "Career and background",
      "content": "- Ms. Sayeh served as Director of the African Department for eight years.\n- She joined the IMF in July 2008.\n- Prior experience:\n  - Finance Minister of Liberia during 2006-08, where she led efforts to clear her country’s debt arrears as it emerged from a decade of civil war.\n  - 17 years of experience at the World Bank."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Contributions and initiatives",
      "content": "- Leadership and diplomacy:\n  - Credited with “quiet, effective diplomacy, deep analytical capability, and an unrivalled understanding of the challenges facing her continent,” according to Ms. Lagarde.\n  - Described by Ms. Lagarde as “a great leader of the African Department, a respected colleague, a friend and a mentor to many.”\n- Policy and operational reforms:\n  - Contributed to the reform of the Fund’s concessional lending facilities in 2010.\n  - Contributed to the reform of the Fund’s debt limits policy.\n  - Supported reforms that enabled the Fund to provide emergency financing and debt relief to the three countries hit by the Ebola crisis in 2014.\n  - Oversaw efforts to improve the effectiveness of the Fund’s technical assistance in Africa, with a sharper focus on institution building, especially in fragile states."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Succession",
      "content": "- The search process to identify a successor to Ms. Sayeh will begin right away.\n\nSource: Press Release No. 16/267, June 8, 2016, IMF Communications Department.\n\n---\n\n\n References\n\n- Liberia and the IMF\n- Press Releases\n- http://www.imf.org/external/np/bio/eng/ams.htm\n- PRESS CENTER\n- http://www.imf.org/external/np/bio/eng/ams.htm\n- https://www.imf.org/en/home\n\nSource: https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2015/09/14/01/49/pr16267"
    }
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    "Published: June 8, 2016",
    "Press Release No. 16/267",
    "Date: June 8, 2016",
    "Ms. Antoinette Sayeh has notified IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde of her intention to retire from the Fund, effective August 31, 2016.",
    "Contact for media: IMF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT, Media Relations",
    "Ms. Sayeh served as Director of the African Department for eight years.",
    "She joined the IMF in July 2008.",
    "Prior experience:",
    "Leadership and diplomacy:",
    "Policy and operational reforms:",
    "The search process to identify a successor to Ms. Sayeh will begin right away.",
    "[Liberia and the IMF](http://www.imf.org/external/country/LBR/index.htm)",
    "[Press Releases](https://www.imf.org/en/news/searchnews)",
    "[http://www.imf.org/external/np/bio/eng/ams.htm](http://www.imf.org/external/np/bio/eng/ams.htm)",
    "[PRESS CENTER](http://presscenter.imf.org/)",
    "[http://www.imf.org/external/np/bio/eng/ams.htm](https://www.imf.org/external/np/bio/eng/ams.htm)",
    "[https://www.imf.org/en/home](https://www.imf.org/en/home)"
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