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WASHINGTON, DC – The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF has convened a new external advisory group to provide perspectives from around the globe on key developments and policy issues, including policy responses to the exceptional challenges the world now faces due to the novel coronavirus and its economic impact.

Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd (pictured) is one of the 12 appointees.

“Even before the spread of Covid-19 and the dramatic health, economic, and financial disruptions it has brought, IMF members confronted a rapidly evolving world and complex policy issues,” Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the IMF said Friday. “To serve our membership well in this context, we need top-notch input and expertise from the widest range of sources, inside and outside the Fund.”

“Toward this end, I am proud that an exceptional and diverse group of eminent individuals with high-level policy, market, and private sector experience has agreed to serve on my External Advisory Group. Today we had a dynamic discussion to gain their insights, and to receive informal reactions to our ideas and approaches,” she added.

The members of the Managing Director’s External Advisory Group have been named as:

Ms. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former Finance Minister of Nigeria

Mr. Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Senior Minister of Singapore and Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore

Ms. Kristin Forbes, Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Mr. Kevin Rudd, former Prime Minister of Australia

Lord Mark Malloch Brown, former United Nations Deputy Secretary-General

Mr. Feike Sijbesima, Honorary Chair, DSM, Former CEO, Royal DSM

Mr. Raghuram Rajan, Professor, University of Chicago

Ms. Ana Botn, Group Executive Chairman, Santander

Ms. Carmen Reinhart, Professor, Harvard University

Mr. Mohamed A. El-Erian, Chief Economic Adviser, Allianz

Mr. Scott Minerd, Chief Investment Officer, Guggenheim Investments

Ms. Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, Chair of ActionAid International

The Managing Director’s External Advisory Group will meet a few times a year with the IMF’s Managing Director, Deputy Managing Directors, and a sub-set of IMF department Directors.

(Photo credit: CNBC screenshot).