By FOLASADE AKPAN

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), says it will begin its search for a replacement for Mr Andrew Tweedie, the Director of the Finance Department, who would be retiring from the post on July 31.

A statement issued in Washington D. C. on Tuesday, by the fund said that Tweedie had notified IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, of his intention to retire from the fund. The statement said that Tweedie, a New Zealand national, had been in his current position since May 2008.

It said that he oversaw the mobilisation, management and control of the fund’s financial resources and advised the management team and the Executive Board on all aspects of the fund’s financial policies and operations.

He played a key role in the IMF’s quota reform and in the development of a new income model, it added.

The statement quoted Georgieva as saying that Andrew’s outstanding knowledge and experience had strengthened the IMF’s role as a trusted partner for its member countries.

“I have highly valued his wise counsel and instrumental contributions, especially in helping the fund adapt and rapidly respond to unprecedented requests by member countries for emergency financing to cope with the COVID-19 crisis.

“He played a pivotal role in the fund’s response to the Global Financial Crisis, including the quadrupling of the fund’s lending capacity, through a doubling of quotas, an expansion of the New Arrangements to Borrow, and several rounds of bilateral borrowing agreements.

“These were critical steps that helped secure the fund’s strong financial position at the center of the global financial safety net and he will be dearly missed,” she said.

Tweedie joined the IMF in 1987 from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, the statement added. (NAN)

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