Governor Talks: Romuald Wadagni, Minister of Economy and Finance of Benin

Governor Talks: Georgia: Georgia's Experience with Inflation Targeting

Location: Cedar Hall, HQ1-1-660

Speaker

Koba Gvenetadze
Governor
National Bank of Georgia

Koba Gvenetadze, Chairman of the Board of the National Bank of Georgia, Governor since 2016. He held position of Economic Adviser at investment banking and management services company “Galt & Taggart” (2015-2016). He worked at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in Washington D.C. as Senior Economist of Middle East and Central Asia Department (2002-2015), including serving as resident representative of the IMF in Azerbaijan and the Kyrgyz Republic. He held positions of Deputy State Minister (2001-2002) and Deputy Finance Minister of Georgia (2000-2001). In different years he worked for the National Bank of Georgia as a Senior Economist and for the local office of the International Monetary Fund as an Economist. Mr. Gvenetadze is a graduate of Tbilisi State University, Department of Finances and Credit. He also graduated from American University, Washington DC, USA in 2000 with a Master of Arts degree in Economics.

Moderator

Jihad Azour
Director of MCD, IMF

Mr. Jihad Azour is the Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund where he oversees the Fund’s work in the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and Caucasus.

Mr. Azour served as Lebanon’s Finance Minister in 2005-08, during which time he coordinated the implementation of important reforms, including modernizing the country’s tax and customs systems. Before and since his time as finance minister, he held a wide range of positions in the private sector, including McKinsey and Booz and Co. where he was a Vice-President and Senior Executive Advisor. Prior to joining the IMF in March 2017, he was a Managing Partner at investment firm Inventis Partners.

Mr. Azour holds a PhD in International Finance and a post-graduate degree in International Economics and Finance, both from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris. He also did research on emerging economies and their integration into the global economy as a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard. Mr. Azour has published several books and articles on economic and financial issues and taught extensively.