Press Release No. 97/6

Michel Camdessus, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), announced today the appointment of Shigemitsu Sugisaki, a national of Japan, as Deputy Managing Director of the IMF for a five-year term, beginning on February 3, 1997. Mr. Sugisaki will succeed Prabhakar R. Narvekar, who is retiring.

Mr. Sugisaki is at present Special Advisor to the Managing Director, a position to which he was appointed in August 1994. Born in 1941, Mr. Sugisaki graduated from the University of Tokyo and Columbia University. He joined Japan's Ministry of Finance in 1964 as a member of the Minister's Secretariat. He held various positions in the International Finance Bureau and the Tax Bureau, and was appointed Personal Assistant to the President, Asian Development Bank in 1976.

Mr. Sugisaki rejoined the Ministry of Finance in 1979, holding a number of positions, including that of Deputy Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs in 1990-91, Deputy Director General of the International Finance Bureau in 1991-92, and Commissioner of the Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau in 1992-93. From mid-1993 until appointment to the IMF, Mr. Sugisaki held the position of Secretary-General of Executive Bureau, the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission.

Mr. Narvekar retires after more than 40 years of distinguished service at the IMF. A national of India, he was born in 1932 and has been Deputy Managing Director since July 1994. Mr. Narvekar joined the IMF in 1953 as a Research Assistant, and held various positions in the former Asian and European Departments before being appointed Director of the Asian Department in 1986, and Special Advisor to the Managing Director of the IMF in August 1991.