MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chilean to head IMF Western Hemisphere Department

Nicolas Eyzaguirre

Chile's former Finance minister Nicolas Eyzaguirre was named to head the International Monetary Fund Western Hemisphere Department that oversees Latin America, the United States and Canada.

Eyzaguirre who is currently an economics professor at the University of Chile, has held several senior positions in the Central Bank of Chile and was an IMF board director between 1998 and 2000, before becoming finance minister until 2006. "Nicolas brings strong intellectual leadership and experience of economic policy making at the highest level" said IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn on Wednesday on making the announcement. As of next January first Eyzaguirre will succeed Anoop Singh, who was named director of the Asia and Pacific Department, and is part of the rash of new appointments at the IMF following a buyout plan to cut expenses. His appointment comes amid increased calls by some member countries for the IMF to keep a closer watch on how the economies of industrial nations are managed in the wake of the US subprime housing crisis. Chile is often cited by the IMF and other international organizations as an example of a well-managed emerging economy whose policies have contributed to stability and high growth. Strauss-Kahn also named Carlo Cottarelli, an Italian national, as its new director of fiscal affairs. He has previously worked in the IMF's monetary and capital markets division, its European, and policy development and review departments In addition, he appointed Caroline Atkinson, a US citizen and former journalist for the Washington Post, The Economist and Times of London, to head the IMF External Relations Department.