Editors

Corinne Deléchat is a division chief in the IMF’s African Department. She is currently leading missions to Senegal as well as the department’s analytical groups on inequality and economic diversification. She has also held positions in the Western Hemisphere Department and the Strategy, Policy, and Review Department, leading IMF relations with several emerging markets and low-income countries, and covering financial sector and private capital flow issues, donor coordination, capacity building, and external debt sustainability. Before joining the IMF, she worked at the Swiss Ministry of Economy, where she was in charge of bilateral cooperation to a group of low-income countries, and at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Her publications focus on development, financial inclusion, banking, external debt, and international migration. Ms. Deléchat earned an MA and a PhD in economics from Georgetown University and a master’s in international economics from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva.

Leandro Medina is a senior economist in the IMF’s Strategy, Policy, and Review Department. Previously, Mr. Medina worked in the IMF’s African Department on frontier economy matters, particularly with countries such as Ghana and Mozambique, and a key issue of the Regional Economic Outlook, which focused on the size and characteristics of the informal economy in African countries. Before that, Mr. Medina focused on macro-fiscal issues in Southeast Asia in the Fiscal Affairs Department and covered regional policy issues in the Middle East and Central Asia, where he also contributed to the Regional Economic Outlook. Before joining the IMF, he worked as an international consultant at the Inter-American Development Bank, participating in portfolio review and policy dialogue missions to Argentina and Uruguay. His research, published in peer-reviewed journals, covers topics in macroeconomics and international finance. He earned a doctorate in economics from The George Washington University.

Authors

Ehtisham Ahmad is a visiting professor at the Grantham Research Institute at the London School of Economics, is a senior fellow at the Chinese Academy of Fiscal Sciences, and was Pao Yu-Kong Professor at Zhejiang University. He directed a program at the London School of Economics on tax and social policy in the presence of informality in Indonesia and Mexico. He is the director of a London School of Economics’ program on sustainable urban transitions in China and Mexico. He previously held senior positions in the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department, was Special Advisor to the Saudi Finance Minister, and Director of the London School of Economics Development Economics Research Program at STICERD. He has written or edited 13 books and numerous papers and reports on topics in public finance and policy. He holds an MA from the University of Cambridge and an MA and DPhil from the University of Sussex.

Antonio David is a senior economist in the IMF’s Western Hemisphere Department. He has previously worked at the IMF’s Institute for Capacity Development and African Department. Before that, he was an economist at the World Bank and taught at the University of Essex. His research interests include international macroeconomics, fiscal policy, financial development, and economic growth. He earned a PhD in economics from the University of Cambridge.

Hilary Devine is a research assistant in the IMF’s African Department. Her research has covered income inequality in low-income and developing economies, the African Continental Free Trade Area, and private financing for development and international taxation in sub-Saharan Africa. Before joining the IMF, she earned an MA in economics from New York University and a BCA and BSc from Victoria University of Wellington.

Ben Kelmanson is the IMF’s Senior Resident Representative in Turkey. Before this, he was IMF Mission Chief for Latvia and Moldova. Previously at the IMF he was Advisor to the First Deputy Managing Director and served in various capacities in the Strategy, Policy, and Review Department, including as Advisor to the Director, as Deputy Chief in the Emerging Markets Division, and in the Low-Income Country Division. Before joining the IMF, he worked for the UK director on the IMF’s Executive Board and in HM Treasury in London. He has a BA in economics from the University of Leeds.

Koralai Kirabaeva is a senior economist in the IMF’s European Department. An IMF staff member since 2011, she has also worked in the Monetary and Capital Market Department and the Middle East and Central Asia Department. She previously worked in the Financial Markets Department at the Bank of Canada. Her research focuses on macro-financial and structural issues. She holds a PhD in economics from Cornell University.

Lama Kiyasseh is a research officer in the IMF’s Research Department, covering global commodity markets. Her research interests include energy economics, infrastructure development, and the drivers of financial inclusion. Her recent work focuses on renewables, the energy transition, and carbon pricing. Before joining the IMF, she examined fiscal policy and macro-financial risks as an economist in Saudi Arabia. She has coauthored multiple IMF working papers and published in the IMF’s World Economic Outlook, the Journal of Energy and Development, and the Middle East Economic Survey, among others. She earned an MA in economics from The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and completed Oxford University’s Executive Education Program in economic and social development.

Lisa Kolovich is an economist in the IMF’s African Department who focuses on São Tomé and Príncipe and gender-related issues. She was previously the team manager for gender research under a joint collaboration between the IMF and the UK Department for International Development that focused on macro issues in low-income countries. Her research examines gender budgeting and fiscal policies initiatives as tools for reducing gender inequality, and she is a contributor to and the editor of the book Fiscal Policies and Gender Equality. Before joining the IMF, Ms. Kolovich conducted program evaluations for the US Department of Labor and was a consultant for the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. She holds an MA from the University of Maryland and a PhD from the University of Navarra.

Frederic Lambert is a senior economist in the IMF’s Western Hemisphere Department, covering Haiti. He previously worked on the desks for Mexico and Uruguay and on the Global Financial Stability Report in the Monetary and Capital Markets Department. Mr. Lambert joined the IMF in 2012 from the Banque de France, where he was head of the International Monetary Relations Division. He earned a PhD in economics from the Stern School of Business at New York University.

Margaux MacDonald is an economist in the IMF’s Research Department, where she works on multilateral surveillance issues, including engagement with the G20. She previously worked in the African Department on several IMF program countries and on external sector issues. She has published in the IMF’s World Economic Outlook, its Finance & Development magazine, and in peer-reviewed journals on international macroeconomics and finance, cross-country spillovers from monetary policy, trade, and the role of macroprudential policy on financial inclusion. Her work has been cited by the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal. She earned a PhD and an MA in economics from Queen’s University and a BBA from St. Francis Xavier University.

Vivian Malta is an economist in the Debt Policy Division of the Strategy, Policy, and Review Department at the IMF. She has previously worked in the Development Issues Unit, where she published several IMF papers on gender and income inequality. Before joining the IMF, she worked as a macroeconomist at the World Bank’s office in Brazil and in the financial industry. She earned a PhD in economics from Escola de Pós-Graduação em Economia and a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, both in Brazil. During her graduate studies, she spent a year at Columbia University and at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as a visiting scholar.

Angelica Martínez Leyva is a PhD student at the University of Warwick in England. She was previously a project officer in the Strategy, Policy, and Review Department at the IMF, where she worked on gender and inequality issues. She has earned an MA and BA in economics from the Instituto Tecnólogico Autónomo de México.

Marina Mendes Tavares is an economist in the IMF’s Research Department. She was previously an economist in the Strategy, Policy, and Review Department and led the inequality workstream of the IMF and the UK Department for International Development. Before joining the IMF, she worked as an assistant professor at the Instituto Tecnólogico Autónomo de México. Her research interests include macroeconomics, public finance, gender, and inequality. She earned a PhD in economics from the University of Minnesota and an MA from the Instituto de Matemática Pura e Aplicada in Brazil.

Azanaw Mengistu is a financial economist at Fannie Mae. His work focuses on house price modeling and forecasting. He previously worked in the African Department at the IMF, where he was responsible for managing macroeconomic data for five oil-exporting countries. His research interests include financial inclusion, housing finance, trade, and development. He earned degrees in economics and development economics from Georgetown University and The George Washington University.

Manabu Nose is an economist in the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs He was previously an economist in the African Department covering countries in southern Africa and in the Fiscal Affairs Department’s expenditure policy division. He was also an associate professor at the University of Tokyo. Before joining the IMF, he was an economist at the World Bank and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation. His research analyzes firm productivity, infrastructure and spatial connectivity, and social welfare programs. He earned a PhD in economics from Brown University.

Hector Perez-Saiz is the desk economist in the IMF’s African Department E3 division for the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was previously the desk economist for Equatorial Guinea in the C2 division. Before joining the IMF, he was a principal researcher in the Financial Stability Department at the Bank of Canada, where he studied banking, financial stability, and productivity. His research has been published in the RAND Journal of Economics, the Journal of Financial Stability, the IMF Working Paper series, IMF Staff Discussion Notes, and the Bank of Canada Working Paper series. Mr. Perez-Saiz earned a PhD in economics from the University of Chicago and an MA in economics from the Toulouse School of Economics.

Delphine Prady joined the IMF in 2016. She is a senior economist in the Fiscal Affairs Department, working on expenditure policy issues with a focus on social spending, energy subsidies, and the digital economy. Before joining the IMF, she worked in the French Treasury; she then was an advisor to social affairs and labor ministers in France and to the French president. She is a graduate of the École normale supérieure in Cachan, France, and earned a doctorate from the Toulouse School of Economics.

Friedrich Schneider studied economics at the University of Konstanz, where he received his PhD in 1977. Now retired, he was a professor of economics and vice director of foreign relations at the Johannes Kepler University Linz and a research professor at the German Institute for Economic Research. He was a board member of the International Institute of Public Finance and a member of the scientific advisory board of Avenir Suisse. He also was the chairman of the Academic Advisory Board of the Zeppelin University in Friedrichshafen, Germany. Since October 2015, he has been a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts. His research primarily focuses on the underground economy and illicit work, as well as tax evasion and money laundering. In addition, he has conducted research on political economies, privatization, deregulation, and issues related to environmental economics.

Frederik Toscani is an economist in the IMF’s Western Hemisphere Department, covering Brazil. He previously worked on several other Latin American countries in the Western Hemisphere Department as well as in the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department. His research has focused mainly on issues in labor economics, public economics, and economic growth and has been published in the Journal of Economic Growth and the Journal of Development Economics. He earned a PhD and MPhil in economics from the University of Cambridge and a BSc in economics from the London School of Economics.

Herve Tourpe is a chief digital advisor in the IMF’s Information Technology Department. He leads a team of digital experts in transformative technologies relevant to IMF’s member countries, such as fintech, artificial intelligence, block-chain, Big Data, and cloud computing and related cyber risks. A passionate “techno-realist,” he strives to provide unbiased and cross-country expertise on technology trends, opportunities, and risks, especially for emerging market economies and low-income countries. He is an expert in national digital strategies, focusing on financial inclusion, sustainable development, digital payment, and central bank digital currencies. He graduated as a software engineer from the Ecole Supérieure d’Informatique Appliquée de Lorraine in France.

Arina Viseth is an economist in the IMF’s African Department, Western 3 division, serving as the desk economist for Togo. Her other country experience includes Madagascar, Niger, Seychelles, South Sudan, and Uganda. Before joining the IMF, she was a consultant at the World Bank and a part of the trade team working on the World Trade Indicators. She earned a PhD in economics from the University of Delaware and is a Fulbright scholar alumna.

Dong (Frank) Wu is an economist in the IMF’s Institute for Capacity Development. He has participated in the development and delivery of various IMF training and technical assistance programs for member countries. In the IMF’s area department, he worked on emerging markets and low-income countries for topics, including inflation analysis, macro-financial linkages, external sector assessment, debt sustainability framework, and economic growth. He holds an economics PhD from the University of Maryland.

Rui Xu is an economist in the IMF’s Asia and Pacific Department, where she works on Korea and Mongolia. She previously worked in the Institute for Capacity Development and delivered economic training to authorities from Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East. Her research interests include growth economics, fiscal rules, monetary policy transmission, and gender inclusion and inequality. She has published in the IMF Regional Economic Outlook reports and peer-reviewed journals on issues related to international trade, inequality, volatility in the equity market, fiscal institutions, and fragile states. She earned a PhD and MA in economics from Stanford University and a BSc from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.