WASHINGTON — Helping governments with the technical work of modernizing their tax systems is a “crucial but often overlooked” part of what the International Monetary Fund does, and one which could have major benefits for the poor, according to Abebe Aemro Selassie, head of the IMF’s African Department.
While the institution tends to be associated with austerity policies and is seen as a lender of last resort, this is no longer the case, he told Devex.
Selassie — who is young for a director, at 51 — worked for the government of Ethiopia before joining the IMF more than 20 years ago. For him, some of the institution’s greatest impacts come from the technical assistance and training it offers governments. In 2017, this accounted for 28 percent of the IMF’s budget, worth $345 million.