International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva announced Nigel Chalk will head the Fund’s Western Hemisphere Department starting October 27, promoting a veteran with nearly three decades at the organization, according to a press-release by the IMF. The British-Irish economist has won respect throughout the institution for staying calm under pressure and thinking strategically about complex problems.
“Nigel’s steady hand has guided many of us through complex challenges,” Georgieva said.
Since 2014, Chalk has been Deputy Director of the Western Hemisphere Department, handling surveillance and lending for countries like Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, Jamaica, Mexico, and Suriname. He’s stepped in as Acting Director when needed and led the US team through eleven straight Article IV reviews spanning four presidencies. That track record means he knows the region’s economic ups and downs inside out.
Chalk spent 2012-2013 in Singapore as a Managing Director at Barclays Bank, running Asia research and briefing clients on market trends. He studied at Liverpool University and the London School of Economics before getting his economics PhD from UCLA. Georgieva said she’s confident he’ll make the department’s work across the Americas even stronger.
