The Treasurer, the Hon Peter Costello, today announced that Mr Michael Callaghan, a senior official with the Commonwealth Treasury, has been elected to the position of Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington DC.
Mr Callaghan will represent a constituency of countries within the IMF, the members of which are: Australia, Kiribati, Korea, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Seychelles, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. Mr Callaghan was elected by the Governors to the IMF from these countries at the 2000 regular elections which were held at the recent IMF Annual Meetings in Prague.
Mr Callaghan will replace Mr Greg Taylor, AO as Executive Director at the IMF. Mr Taylor completes his term on 31 October 2000 and Mr Callaghan will take up his position from 1 November.
Australia has been a member of the IMF since it came into existence in 1945. The IMF is an organisation of 182 member countries, established to promote international monetary cooperation and exchange stability, to foster economic and employment growth, and to provide temporary financial assistance to countries under adequate safeguards to help ease balance of payments adjustment. Following the financial crises of 1997-98 a key task of the IMF has been to strengthen the stability of the international financial system and to review its future role and operations.
Mr Callaghan is a highly experienced senior Treasury officer who has dealt with a very wide range of economic policy and financial matters. He has also had extensive experience on international economic issues and a long-standing interest in the IMF, having served in the IMF in the early 1980s. In 1998 he was the Secretary to the Prime Ministers Task Force on International Financial Reform. More recently Mr Callaghan has been seconded to the Treasurers Office as Chief of Staff and has been heavily involved in tax reform issues.