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Nigeria’s former Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, was today appointed by the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, into her team of External Advisory Group (EAG). According to a statement by the IMF, the EAG will 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.

IMF said the EAG comprises some eminent individuals from around the world, who would draw on their high-level policy, market, and private sector experiences to provide insights to enhance the Fund’s ability to serve its membership.

Apart from Ms. Okonjo-Iweala, a former World Bank Managing Director, the other members of the advisory team to the IMF MD are: Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Senior Minister of Singapore and Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore; Kristin Forbes, Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Kevin Rudd, former Prime Minister of Australia; Lord Mark Malloch Brown, former United Nations Deputy Secretary-General; and Feike Sijbesima, Honorary Chair, DSM, and former CEO, Royal DSM.

Also in the team are Raghuram Rajan, Professor, University of Chicago; Ana Botín, Group Executive Chairman, Santander; Carmen Reinhart, Professor, Harvard University; Mohamed A. El-Erian, Chief Economic Adviser, Allianz; Scott Minerd, Chief Investment Officer, Guggenheim Investments; and Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, Chair of ActionAid International.

“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 EAG will meet a few times a year with the IMF’s Managing Director, Deputy Managing Directors, and a sub-set of IMF department Directors.