Spring Meetings

Sharmini Coorey, a national of Sri Lanka, has been the Director of the Institute for Capacity Development since May 1, 2012, and Director of the IMF Institute since January 2012. (The IMF Institute merged with the Office of Technical Assistance Management on May 1, 2012 to become the Institute for Capacity Development.). The Institute aims to promote stronger synergies and better coordination between IMF technical assistance, training and other elements of capacity development; help the IMF’s capacity development activities better adapt to member countries’ needs and priorities; and raise funds from donors for these activities. It also delivers training to country officials through a global network of eight training centers and oversees the management of nine regional technical assistance centers around the world. In addition, the Institute provides internal economics training to strengthen the ability of Fund staff to provide high quality analysis and advice to member countries.

Before heading the Institute, Ms. Coorey was Deputy Director in the IMF’s African Department where she oversaw the Fund’s work in a number of countries including South Africa, Botswana, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Malawi, and the CEMAC region. Her oversight responsibilities also included the department’s financial sector work and research agenda. Ms. Coorey has also worked in the IMF’s European Department, Asian Department, Western Hemisphere Department and the Policy Development and Review Department. Her experience includes work on surveillance and Fund-supported programs in a range of industrial and emerging economies including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Estonia, Korea, Mexico and the United States as well as on various Fund-wide policy issues. She also served on the Editorial Committee of IMF Staff Papers and was a visiting researcher at George Washington University’s Elliot School for International Affairs.

Ms. Coorey holds a Ph.D. and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Harvard University. She has published papers on inflation and economic growth in transition and developing countries and edited a book on managing the oil wealth of the CEMAC region.

Antoinette Monsio Sayeh has been a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Center for Global Development (CGD) since November 2016 and was Co-Chair for the recently concluded 19^th Replenishment of the International Development Association (IDA19), the World Bank’s Fund for the poorest. She previously oversaw and significantly enhanced the International Monetary Fund’s engagement with its sub-Saharan African members as Director of the African Department between July 2008 and August 2016.

As Minister of Finance in post-conflict Liberia (January 2006 through June 2008), she led the country through the clearance of its long-standing multilateral debt arrears, the HIPC Decision Point, the Paris Club, and its first Poverty Reduction Strategy, significantly strengthening its public finances and championing public financial management reform. Before joining President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s Cabinet, Ms. Sayeh worked for the World Bank for 17 years, including as Country Director for Benin, Niger, and Togo; Senior Country Economist for Pakistan and Afghanistan, as well as an Advisor in the Bank’s Operations Policy Vice Presidency and as Assistant to its principal Managing Director. Before joining the Bank, Ms. Sayeh worked in economic advisory positions in Liberia’s Ministries of Finance and Planning.

Ms. Sayeh graduated with a bachelor’s degree with honors in economics from Swarthmore College and a PhD in International Economic Relations from the Fletcher School at Tufts University.  While at CGD, Ms. Sayeh has also served on the Board of Managers of Swarthmore College; Board of Directors of the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center for Women and Development; and Board of Directors of Emerging Public Leaders.

Valerie Cerra is an Assistant Director and Division Chief of the European and Middle Eastern Division in the IMF’s Institute for Capacity Development (ICD). Prior to ICD, she was in charge of Colombia, Panama, and Venezuela in the Western Hemisphere Department and earlier worked in the African Department, the IMF Institute, the European Department, and the Asia and Pacific Department. She obtained undergraduate degrees in finance and engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, and her Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Washington. Before graduate school, she was a financial analyst at a consulting firm in the U.S. Her research publications focus on international macroeconomics, exchange rates, financial crises, and growth.

Maksym Ivanyna is an Economist at the IMF Institute of Capacity Development, which he joined in 2018. Prior to the IMF he held a position of Senior Economist at the Joint Vienna Institute, where he spent seven years. He holds Doctor’s degrees in Economics from Regensburg University (Germany) and Michigan State University (USA). Apart from teaching at the IMF, JVI and other institutions, Maksym did a number of consultancy jobs at the World Bank, European Commission, and German Institute for Development. His research portfolio includes publications and working papers in the fields of fiscal policy, development, climate change, corruption, governance, income inequality, fiscal federalism, technology adoption and innovation, structural reform, and macroeconomic management in resource-rich countries.

Nathalie Pouokam is an economist at the IMF’s Institute for Capacity Development (ICD). Prior to joining ICD, she worked at the IMF’s African Department. She has also previously worked as Research Analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and has taught undergraduate Microeconomics and Macroeconomics at the University of Minnesota. Her research interests include growth and inequality, climate change, political economy, public finance, risk sharing, and financial stability. Ms. Nathalie Pouokam holds a Ph.D. degree in Economics and an M.S. degree in Mathematics from the University of Minnesota.

Nikola Spatafora is a Senior Economist in the IMF Institute for Capacity Development.  Previously, he was Lead Economist for East Asia & the Pacific at the World Bank, and he has also worked in the IMF Research Department.  His research interests focus on economic growth, inequality, structural transformation, and natural resources.  He has published widely, including in the Journal of International Economics, Journal of Development Economics, IMF World Economic Outlook, and World Bank Global Economic Prospects.  His research has also been featured in The Economist, Financial Times, and Wall Street Journal.  He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Yale, and a B.A. (First Class) in Politics, Philosophy, & Economics from Balliol College, Oxford.