IMF | CARTAC

MR. CHRISTIAN JOSZ

Position: Director

Christian Josz, a national of Belgium, assumed duties as Director for the Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre on August 28, 2020. Christian has over 25 years of experience at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) where he was a mission chief in the African Department and the Middle East and Central Asia Department for the last 11 years before he joined CARTAC.  Christian’s experience at the IMF includes leading teams to negotiate and implement programs of economic and financial reforms, conduct surveillance, and implement capacity development programs. He also worked for 12 years at the Belgian central bank, the Belgian Ministry of the Economy and a large multinational corporation before joining the IMF. Christian holds degrees of Commercial Engineer from the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Toronto. He is fluent in French, English and Dutch. 

MS. CONSUELO SOTO-CROVETTO

Position: External Sector Statistics Advisor

Consuelo Soto-Crovetto, a national of Peru, assumed duties as CARTAC’s external sector statistics advisor in February 2021. Consuelo has more than twenty years of relevant experience leading the Balance of Payments Statistics Department at the Central Reserve Bank of Peru. For three years (2012-2015) she was appointed as the External Sector Statistics Resident Expert at the Central America, Panama and Dominican Republic Regional Technical Assistance Center (CAPTAC-DR) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). She was member of the International Monetary Fund Committee on Balance of Payments Statistics from 2016 to 2019 and currently member of the Current Account Task Team established by the Committee to contribute to revising the IMF Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual, sixth edition (BPM6).

MR. ROBIN YOULL

Position: Real Sector Statistics Advisor

Robin Youll is the Real Sector Statistics Advisor at CARTAC, with 35 years of management and technical experience in statistics. Since 2000, Robin was a Deputy Director at the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS), where he gained extensive experience as a leader, manager, IT developer, and as a statistical expert specialising in national accounts.   Since 2010 he was ONS’s Director of National Accounts Strategy, having previously been Head of National Accounts coordination. Robin also established ONS’s technical assistance programme, which provides support to developing countries. During the 1990s, he lived and worked in Africa as part of the UK government’s technical assistance programme. In total Robin has provided statistical services to more than 50 countries around the world. He is a Fellow of the UK’s Royal Statistical Society.

MR. D. COLIN OWEN

Position: Public Finance Management Advisor

Colin joined us in September 2020 and brings over 25 years of public sector experience working  in the United Kingdom and across two Overseas Territories.  Colin worked in external audit for the first 18 years of his career, working for the Audit Commission and PKF as an Audit Manager; and then as Auditor General for St Helena. For the past 8 years he is has worked as a Financial Secretary, firstly on St Helena and for the past four years on Montserrat and is well known across the region. He delivered extensive PFM reform programmes during those years managing a wide portfolio of technical experts across Government.

Colin holds a BA in Business Studies from Birmingham City University and is qualified accountant with CIPFA and ACCA, being a Fellow of both.

MS. SOPHIA WHYTE-GIVANS

Position: Public Finance Management Advisor

Sophia joined CARTAC on August 1, 2022 as a PFM Advisor, with over 20 years of experience in the Caribbean, working in government and multilateral institutions. Her main areas of focus have been: public policy development & analysis; budgeting and budgetary analyses; fiscal rule development; institutionalization of public investment management; development of PFM and other fiscal legislation and regulations; and disaster risk financing.

More recently, she contributed to the PEFA 2022 Global Report on PFM. Sophia has a double BA in Economics and International Relations from Stanford University and a MSc in Governance, with Distinction, from the University of the West Indies.

MS. PAULINE PETERS

Position: Tax Administration Advisor

Pauline Peters, a national of Grenada, joined FAD R2 on November 2, 2020 as a Tax Administration Advisor, based at CARTAC in Barbados. Prior to joining the Fund, she served for over 20 years within the Ministry of Finance, Grenada where she held the positions of Deputy Permanent Secretary, VAT Co-ordinator and Comptroller of Inland Revenue.  She has worked in The Commonwealth of the Bahamas and the British Overseas Territory of Anguilla, providing technical assistance on the implementation of Value Added Tax (VAT).

Pauline, a graduate of the University of the West Indies (B.Sc. Economics and Management) also holds an M.A. in Public Sector Management which she attained from the Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre Y Maestra in the Dominican Republic.

MR. FRODE LINDSETH

Position: Tax Administration Advisor

Frode Lindseth, a Norwegian national, joined CARTAC in February 2021 as a Tax Administration Advisor. Before joining CARTAC, Frode was a Senior Tax Advisor in the Norwegian Tax Administration’s Capacity Building Unit organizing and delivering technical assistance to support domestic revenue mobilization in developing countries.

Frode joined the Norwegian Tax Administration back in 2001 and from 2014 to 2016 he worked as a Technical Assistance Advisor in the IMF developing the Tax Administration Diagnostic Assessment Tool (TADAT) and has since then delivered technical assistance, including diagnostics of systems of tax administrations as a short-term expert for the Fund and the World Bank.

Frode holds a Master’s degree in Economics and a Bachelor in Public Administration.

MR. STEPHEN MENDES

Position: Customs Administration Advisor

Stephen Mendes was a customs officer in the UK before working on customs reform and modernization programs. He has been a long-term advisor in Latvia, Mozambique, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Ukraine. Prior to joining CARTAC he was customs advisor at AFRITAC South. His previous role was as Director of the Customs Department in Mauritius. He has an MSc in Development Management and a Master in International Revenue Administration.

MR. CHRISTIAN JOHNSON

Position: MacroEconomics Advisor

Christian Johnson, a national of Chile, joined CARTAC in August 2023 as Macroeconomics Advisor. Prior to his current role, he served also as a Macroeconomic Advisor at the IMF South Asia Regional Training and Technical Assistance Center (SARTTAC), India, and, before, he held the position of Senior Economist at the IMF headquarters in the Western Hemisphere Division of the Institute for Capacity Development, where he led technical assistance missions related to macroeconomic frameworks, forecasting, debt dynamic tools, and macroeconomic and financial training courses. His earlier roles at the IMF included work in the Western Hemisphere Department (2011-2014) and at the Joint Vienna Institute from 2009 to 2011. Before his time at the IMF, Christian was the Director and full-time Professor for graduate programs at Adolfo Ibanez University in Chile from 2002 to 2009. He also served as a Senior Economist in the Research Department of the Central Bank of Chile from 2000 to 2002 and as the Head of the International Money Desk from 1995 to 2000. Mr. Johnson's academic credentials include an M.A. in Economics from Georgetown University and a Ph.D. in Economics from Duke University.

MR. ÁLVARO RAMIREZ CARCELES

Position: Financial Sector Supervision Advisor

Álvaro joined CARTAC in October 2023 as the Financial Sector Supervision Advisor with over 10 years of experience in financial supervision. Before joining the Fund, he held different positions at the European Central Bank and Banco de España, leading on-site examinations on business model, product pricing and climate and environmental risks. In addition to his field work, he conducted off-site supervision for Global-Systemic Important Banks, supervisory stress testing and contributed to policy matters regarding Capital, Fit Assessment Proper, licensing, passporting, non-performing loans and Covid monitoring & supervisory response. He specializes in capital management, business model assessment & financial analyses, governance, credit & counterparty risks, and liquidity management.

Álvaro is a Spanish National, graduated in Law by the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, is a Chartered Financial Analyst charterholder and holds two master’s degrees in Supervision of Credit Institution’s (Universidad Pontificia de Comillas, Madrid) & in Stock Exchange and Financial Markets (Instituto de Estudios Bursátiles, Madrid).

MR. PETR JAKUBIK

Position: Financial Stability Advisor

Petr Jakubik joined CARTAC in August 2022 as the Financial Stability Advisor with over 20 years of experience from financial sectors. Before joining the Fund, he led the Financial Stability Team at the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) responsible for financial stability analyses and assessments including financial stability reports, insurance and pension stress tests and research. Previously, he was working as an economist at the European Central Bank, Technical Advisor at the Bank for International Settlements, financial stability consultant at the Oesterreichische National Bank and Central Bank of Malta, chief economist at the Czech National Bank, visiting researcher at the Bank of Finland and credit risk analyst in the private banking sector. He received the Financial Stability Institute Award 2008 and Irving Fisher Committee Award 2010 of the Bank for International Settlements. In 2012-2013, he was the President of the Czech Economic Society.

He holds two doctorate degrees in finance and economics, three master degrees in economics, statistics & insurance mathematics, and mathematics & computer sciences. In 2015, he was habilitated as an associate professor in economic theories by the Charles University.

MS. NADIA HENRY

Position: Debt Management and Climate Finance Advisor

Nadia Henry is national of Antigua and Barbuda.  She has over 20 years’ experience in fiscal and debt management. Prior to joining the Fund, she worked in the areas of public debt management, revenue mobilization, public finance management and climate finance at the Ministry of Finance, Antigua and Barbuda, the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, the CARICOM Secretariat, the Alliance of Small Island Developing States and the Green Climate Fund. Nadia is a graduate of the University of the West Indies (B.Sc. Political Science with Public Sector Management). She also holds an M.A. in Public Sector Management from the Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre Y Maestra in the Dominican Republic and a Post Graduate Diploma in Public Management from the University of Chile. She is a doctoral candidate with the University of the West Indies.

MR. IAN CARRINGTON

Position: AML/CFT Advisor

Ian Carrington is the Legal Department’s AML/CFT regional advisor for the Western Hemisphere and is based at CARTAC’s office.  Mr. Carrington joined the IMF in 2002 as a senior financial sector expert with a focus on Anti-money Laundering Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT). In this capacity he has undertaken several AML/CFT assessments, designed and delivered capacity development programs for countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, the Pacific and Eastern Europe and has provided AML/CFT-related input to the IMF’s main workstreams. During the period 2008 to 2012 Mr. Carrington was the financial sector supervision advisor at the IMF’s East Africa Technical Assistance Centre, based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Before joining the IMF, Mr. Carrington served as a financial sector expert at the United Nations Global Program against Money Laundering in Vienna, Austria. Prior to his international career Mr. Carrington worked for 17 years at the Central Bank of Barbados, eventually becoming the Director of Bank Supervision. He  holds a BSc in Public Administration from the University of the West Indies, an MBA in Banking Management from the University of Exeter and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing in the UK. He is married and has two daughters.  

MS. AZZIZA TROTTER

Position: Economist

Azziza Trotter, a national from the Commonwealth of Dominica joined CARTAC in December 2018.  Prior to joining the team, she worked at the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank for 7 years providing advice to eastern Caribbean governments on implementing best debt management practices, assessing debt sustainability and developing medium term debt management strategies.  Azziza is responsible for preparing and monitoring the implementation of the work program and supports the development of the results-based management (RBM) framework at the Center. 

She has a BSc. in Economics and Finance from the University of the West Indies and an MBA from EDHEC Business School in Nice France