Spring Meetings

Ilkhom Norkulov
Ministry of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction,
Uzbekistan

Mr. Ilkhom Norkulov has been First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction since March 2020. Prior to this assignment, he was first deputy chairman of the Central Bank of Uzbekistan (CBU) since May 2019, deputy chairman of the CBU since April 2018, served as head of monetary policy department of the CBU from 2013 to 2018, and held various positions in the Ministry of Economy. He holds a master's degree from the University of Glasgow.

Jihad Azour
Middle East and Central Asia Department,
IMF

Mr. Jihad Azour has been the Director of the International Monetary Fund’s Middle East and Central Asia Department (MCD) since March 2017. Mr. Azour served as Lebanon’s Finance Minister during 2005–08, during which time he coordinated the implementation of important reform initiatives at the national level and within the Finance Ministry. Before and since his time as finance minister, he held a wide range of posts in the private sector, including McKinsey and Booz and Co. where he served as vice president and senior executive advisor between 2009–13. Prior to joining the Fund he was a managing partner at advisory and 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, and holds a master's degree in Applied Economics and Finance from Dauphine University, Paris. He has published five books and several articles on economic and financial issues and taught extensively.

Artak Harutyunyan
Statistics Department,
IMF

Mr. Artak Harutyunyan is currently an Advisor in the IMF’s Statistics Department (STA) with a leadership role in statistical methodology and research. Mr. Harutyunyan is also STA’s Regional Manager for Middle East and Central Asia. He joined the IMF in 2004 and has worked in various STA divisions, most recently as a Deputy Chief in the Balance of Payments Division and earlier in the Financial Institutions Division. Prior to joining the Fund, he was the Director of the Statistics Department at the Central Bank of Armenia. Mr. Harutyunyan has over 25 years of extensive experience in various domains of macroeconomic statistics and has made significant contributions to advancing international statistical research and methodology. He also has an extensive experience in providing capacity development to member countries in various statistical domains.

Paul Inderbinen
Executive Director,
IMF

Mr. Paul Inderbinen is the Executive Director for Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Poland, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, as well as his native Switzerland at the International Monetary Fund. He has held this position since November 2018. Prior to this, Paul Inderbinen was Alternate Executive Director at the IMF. He has held various positions in the Swiss Federal Finance Department, including as the Deputy Head of Multilateral Affairs in the State Secretariat for International Finance. Paul Inderbinen holds a Doctorate in Economics from the University of Fribourg, where he was a research and teaching assistant prior to entering public service.

Padamja Khandelwal
Middle East and Central Asia Department,
IMF

Ms. Padamja Khandelwal is Deputy Division Chief in the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia Department (MCD). She also serves as Mission Chief for Tajikistan. She helps lead the IMF’s analytical work on the Caucasus and Central Asia countries (CCA) and is assisting with the setup of CCAMTAC. She has extensive country and policy experience in almost two decades at the Fundand her research has covered diverse topics in recent years, including labor market policies, economic diversification, and macroprudential policies.