Bernes on IEO challenges

• Pages: 201-205

Page 201

In June, the new head of the IMF's Independent Evaluation Office (IEO), Canadian Thomas A. Bernes, took office. Bernes brings first-hand knowledge about the IMF to his position, having been the Fund's Executive Director for Canada, Ireland, and the Caribbean from 1996 to 2001. Among Bernes' priorities for the IEO, now in its fourth year of operation, are more attention to disseminating the results of IEO evaluations and following up on the changes that the office has recommended.

Page 204

IEO critical for institutional governance and oversight

On June 6, Thomas A. Bernes, a Canadian national, became head of the IMF's Independent Evaluation Office (IEO), succeeding Montek Singh Ahluwalia who led the IEO from its startup in July 2001. Previously an Executive Secretary of the joint IMF-World Bank Development Committee (2001-2005) and IMF Executive Director for Canada, Ireland, and the Caribbean (1996-2001), Bernes brings a wealth of firsthand knowledge about the IMF. Christine Ebrahim-zadeh of the IMF Survey asked Bernes about his goals for the IEO, which is charged with providing objective and independent assessments of various aspects of the IMF's work, and the challenges ahead.

IMF SURVEY: Your duties on the IMF's Executive Board required keeping a critical eye on the Fund and its work.

In what ways are your new duties as head of the IEO similar? And in what ways are they different?

BERNES: There are similarities and important differences. Both the Executive Board and the IEO have as a principal objective ensuring the effectiveness of the IMF, but clearly their roles are different. In the Board, Executive Directors are responsible for deciding policy and holding management and staff accountable for the conduct of that policy. The IEO, of course, does not make policy. Its job is to look at how policies, approved by the Board, are carried out, whether they are effective, and what to do if they are not.

The IEO provides a very important function in helping to support the Board's institutional governance and oversight functions. But the IEO is also charged with evaluating the effectiveness of the IMF as a whole, which includes the Board itself.

When I was on the Board, I chaired the Evaluation Committee. There had been a long-in fact, a 10-year- discussion as to whether there should be an independent evaluation office.We went through various models before we came up...