Horiguchi to head Asia Pacific Department; Ahmed to coordinate assistance to poorest

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On January 28, the IMF announced that Yusuke Horiguchi had been named Director of the IMF’s Asia and Pacific Department and that Masood Ahmed had been appointed a Deputy Director of the IMF’s Policy Development and Review Department. The texts of Press Release No. 00/3 and News Brief No. 00/7 are available on the IMF’s website (www.imf.org).

The appointment of Yusuke Horiguchi, a Japanese national, is effective February 1, 2000. Currently the Associate Director of the department, Horiguchi succeeds Hubert Neiss, who is retiring from the institution after 33 years of service.

Horiguchi joined the IMF in 1978 and has held various positions in the institution, including Deputy Director of the IMF’s European II Department, which covers the Baltics and the former Soviet Union, and the European I Department, which covers the European Union and the transition economies of Eastern Europe. He was appointed Associate Director of the Asia and Pacific Department in December 1998. Horiguchi studied at Keio University and holds a doctorate in economics from Rice University.

Horiguchi’s department covers a wide range of countries in the Asia Pacific region, including Japan, China, and India, as well as Indonesia, Korea, Thailand, and the Philippines, which have programs with IMF financial support.

Masood Ahmed, who worked at the World Bank for 21 years, had been the Bank’s Vice President for Poverty Reduction and Economic Management since 1997.

Ahmed will coordinate the IMF’s efforts in supporting its poorest member countries through the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF), a newly created successor to the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility. He will also be involved in other aspects of the work...