Masood Ahmed

Currently the Director of International Monetary Fund (IMF) for Middle East and Central Asia Department since November 1, 2008, Masood Ahmed was born and brought up in Pakistan and earned his graduate and post-graduate degrees in Economics from the London School of Economics where he also served on the economics faculty.

Prior to taking up this position, Masood Ahmed was the Director of the External Relations Department in the IMF since May 1, 2006. Between 2003 and 2006 he served as Director General for Policy and International Development at the UK Government's Department for International Development (DFID).

From 2000 to 2003, he was Deputy Director in the IMF's Policy Development and Review Department. In this role, he served as the senior staff focal point for taking forward the IMF's policy work in support of low income member countries and its relationship with the World Bank and other development agencies.

Between 1979 and 2000, Masood Ahmed held a number of positions in the World Bank. He worked for about 10 years on country programmes and projects in different regions and, for a further 10 years, on international economic policy relating to debt, aid effectiveness, trade and global economic prospects.

As Vice President for Poverty Reduction and Economic Management, Masood Ahmed was the senior World Bank manager responsible for the development of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper approach as well as the HIPC Debt Initiative.

He also served concurrently for a year as Acting Vice President for Private Sector Development and Infra-structure.