Charles Amo Yartey talks about his career at the IMF, from senior economic adviser to country representative.
There is no better place to study Economics than at Cambridge when it comes to a career in economic policy. The college and the Gates Cambridge system gave me unparallelled support.
Charles Amo Yartey
Charles Amo Yartey [2002] always wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps as an accountant. Growing up in Ghana, he applied to do Business Administration at university, but, because he had not studied business at school, he was offered Economics. It proved to be the start of a fascinating career at the centre of global economic development policy at the International Monetary Fund.
Charles soon discovered a passion for Economics which took him to the University of Cambridge where he did a master’s in Development Studies in 1999, supervised by Professor Ha-Joon Chang, and then a PhD funded by the Gates Cambridge Trust, then in its second year. While there was discussion at the time about whether developing countries should set up their own stock markets, Charles felt that the movement could not be stopped and so what was needed was advice on how to make the most out of the capitalist system.
He never planned to work for the IMF as it is notoriously difficult to get into. His aim was to work for an international organisation in order to pursue his interest in international development. The breakthrough for him came in the summer of 2003 after the first year of his PhD when he interned at the IMF in Washington. He was told to research post-conflict reconstruction in Africa. The IMF later published his internship paper in the book Post Conflict Economics in sub-Saharan Africa.
In his final year, Charles returned to the IMF as a consultant on financial markets. At the time, many African countries were trying to establish their own stock markets. Charles wanted to highlight the important role the African financial market was playing in the global economy, drawing on his PhD research. During his time as a consultant he applied to join the IMF’s programme for young economists and went through an assessment in Paris.
Life at the IMF
Charles [pictured right] started at the IMF in Washington in October 2005 after submitting his thesis in August and says his PhD was crucial to getting the job. Once in, he was moved around different departments, serving as both an economist and, eventually, as a country specialist, gradually building up his experience.
“The good thing about the economist programme is that there is a lot of mobility so you can see the IMF both from the broader policy point of view and a specific country perspective,” he says. “When you are assigned to a specific country you see how the IMF recommendations play out on the ground and what the constraints are.”
Although he worked in Africa, the IMF doesn’t allow economists to work on their own countries so he will not have the opportunity to officially advise on Ghana’s economic situation unless he leaves the IMF.
Charles’ first role as an economist drew on his knowledge about capital market development in emerging economies, but broadened it out. He says it was similar to being at university, but with more of a focus on policy-relevant issues.
After a few years he became a senior economist and then a country representative, which meant he was the face of the IMF and had to balance economics and diplomacy, dealing with civil society, think tanks, politicians and the media.
Charles initially worked on policy advice for countries in Africa, including South Africa, Burkina Faso and Malawi before he was moved to the Western Hemisphere department where he covered Jamaica and Barbados, and Suriname. He says tackling previous economic crises were key features of his work in Jamaica and, later, in Suriname.
Book
A decade ago, Charles published a book on the Caribbean region. Caribbean Renewal: Tackling Fiscal and Debt Challenges examines the problem of high debt in the Caribbean region and discusses policy options for improving debt sustainability, including fiscal consolidation, robust growth and structural reforms. It concludes that the region needs a broad and sustained package of reforms to reduce debt ratios to more manageable levels and strengthen economic resilience.
“Debt was a big issue at the time,” he says. “Some countries needed a hug from their creditors through lower interest rates to give them some breathing space and to restore stability.”
After publication of his book, Charles needed a breather before he moved back to Africa as Liberia representative. The country was booming post-conflict and economic activity was picking up. Most of his work there involved trying to help the government develop the right institutions for economic growth and governance. From Liberia he moved back to Washington as a senior economist before being appointed country representative to Suriname.
Lessons from the IMF frontline
Charles says every country he works on is different. While Jamaica had high debt levels like Suriname and suffered a deep economic crisis, it had more capacity to implement the IMF’s recommendations, while Suriname needed more support. It has spent more than it earned and had not invested well, meaning the debt had worsened. The IMF recommendation was to reduce untargeted subsidies, but support the poor and the vulnerable by expanding social safety nets.
Charles says that his years of experience have taught him that, to make progress, you need the right political environment when it comes to addressing financial issues such as fiscal indiscipline.
He adds that he has benefited throughout his career from the Gates Cambridge community both at Cambridge discussing policy issues with fellow scholars and since. “Cambridge gave me a very strong foundation and Gates Cambridge provided different perspectives on global issues from many different angles,” he states. “There is no better place to study Economics than at Cambridge when it comes to a career in economic policy. The college and the Gates Cambridge system gave me unparallelled support and all those networks I was part of at Cambridge have been very useful for my career development.”
*Top photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash
