Ex-IMF’s Dr. Sharmini Coorey joins JKH Board from January

Tuesday, 13 December 2022 01:26 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Dr. Sharmini Coorey

John Keells Holdings yesterday announced that Dr. Sharmini Amrita Coorey will be appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Director on its Board with effect from 1 January 2023.

Dr. Coorey is a former senior official of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and currently a member of the Presidential Advisory Group on Multilateral Engagement and Debt Sustainability advising the Government of Sri Lanka during the economic crisis.

She joined the IMF through the Economist Program in 1986 and, during her 35-year career there, worked in positions of increasing seniority in its African, Asia and Pacific, European, and Western

Hemisphere departments, as well as its Policy Development and Review Department.

Prior to her retirement in November 2021, Dr. Coorey served for almost nine years as the Director of the Institute for Capacity Development (ICD), the IMF’s department for capacity building. As Director─ the most senior staff-level position at the IMF ─ she was instrumental in establishing ICD and providing strategic direction for the governance, management, and funding of the IMF’s capacity building activities.

She also oversaw the IMF’s training for country officials world-wide and established its online program which trained over 100,000 government officials in policy-oriented macroeconomics during her tenure.

Before heading ICD, Dr. Coorey was Deputy Director in the IMF’s African Department, where she oversaw the Fund’s work on many Sub-Saharan African countries including South Africa, Botswana, and Zimbabwe. In addition, she led the department’s financial sector work and research agenda.

Dr. Coorey’s experience at the IMF also includes surveillance work on the United Kingdom, Ireland, the United States, and Canada as well as program work on Korea, Estonia, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic. She served on the Investment Committee of the IMF Staff Retirement Plan and on the Editorial Committee of IMF Staff Papers. She was also a visiting researcher at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs in Washington DC.Dr. Coorey holds Ph.D. and bachelor’s degrees in Economics from Harvard University. She has published papers on inflation and economic growth in transition and developing countries and edited a book on managing oil wealth in Central African countries.