Nigeria’s former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; a Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ms. Kristin Forbes and 10 others have been named members of the newly created International Monetary Fund (IMF’s) External Advisory Group.
The IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, said these prominent individuals from around the world drawn on high-level policy, market, and private sector experience are to provide insights to enhance the Fund’s ability to serve its membership.
A release from the Fund said Georgieva, convened the new external advisory group today to provide perspectives from around the globe on key developments and policy issues, including policy responses to the exceptional challenges the world now faces due to the novel coronavirus and its economic impact.
“Even before the spread of COVID-19 and the dramatic health, economic, and financial disruptions it has brought, IMF members confronted a rapidly evolving world and complex policy issues,” Ms. Georgieva said.
“To serve our membership well in this context, we need top-notch input and expertise from the widest range of sources, inside and outside the Fund.
“Toward this end, I am proud that an exceptional and diverse group of eminent individuals with high-level policy, market, and private sector experience has agreed to serve on my External Advisory Group. Today we had a dynamic discussion to gain their insights, and to receive informal reactions to our ideas and approaches,” she added.
The members of the Managing Director’s External Advisory Group are: Ms. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former Finance Minister of Nigeria; Mr. Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Senior Minister of Singapore and Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore; Ms. Kristin Forbes, Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Mr. Kevin Rudd, former Prime Minister of Australia; Lord Mark Malloch Brown, former United Nations Deputy Secretary-General; Mr. Feike Sijbesima, Honorary Chair, DSM, Former CEO, Royal DSM; Mr. Raghuram Rajan, Professor, University of Chicago; Ms. Ana Botín, Group Executive Chairman, Santander; Ms. Carmen Reinhart, Professor, Harvard University; Mr. Mohamed A. El-Erian, Chief Economic Adviser, Allianz; Mr. Scott Minerd, Chief Investment Officer, Guggenheim Investments and Ms. Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, Chair of ActionAid International
The Managing Director’s External Advisory Group will meet a few times a year with the IMF’s Managing Director, Deputy Managing Directors, and a sub-set of IMF department Directors.