LIC Debt Sustainability Framework

Leonardo Martinez is a senior economist at the IMF's Institute for Capacity Development, bringing extensive expertise in financial programming, fiscal policy, and sovereign debt management. An Argentine national, Martinez holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Rochester and previously worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. His research portfolio spans critical areas including sovereign risk, debt management, fiscal rules, and international reserves. At the IMF, Martinez has contributed to various departments, including the Macrofinancial Division of the Research Department and missions with the Western Hemisphere and Fiscal Affairs departments. His work has been published in top-tier economic journals such as the American Economic Review and Journal of Political Economy. Martinez's recent contributions include developing the Public Debt Dynamics Tool to assist countries with debt projections and analysis. He also co-authored influential papers on fiscal rules and sovereign default risk, demonstrating the benefits of spread-based fiscal rules for heterogeneous economies. As a key figure in the IMF's capacity development efforts, Martinez combines academic rigor with practical policy implementation, particularly in emerging and developing economies.

Mumtaz Hussain is a Senior Economist at the IMF's Institute for Capacity Development, bringing over two decades of expertise in international economics and policy analysis. Since joining the IMF in 2000, he has held diverse roles across strategic and operational departments, including six years in the Strategy, Policy and Review Department focusing on IMF program design, and ten years in regional departments (Europe and Africa) conducting surveillance and program work. His research portfolio spans critical areas for emerging and developing economies, including inclusive growth, post-crisis growth recovery, Islamic banking and finance, and natural resource management. Prior to the IMF, Hussain's career included academic positions at the International Islamic University of Pakistan and Northeastern University in Boston, as well as research analysis at the Harvard Institute for International Development. His extensive experience in country missions has involved leading analytical work across major economic sectors. Since 2016, Hussain has been contributing his expertise to capacity development initiatives at the IMF Institute, leveraging his comprehensive understanding of macroeconomic policy challenges in developing countries.

Vivian Norambuena is a Senior Economist in Global Macro and Debt Analytics at the World Bank's Macroeconomics, Trade and Investment Global Practice. Her career encompasses significant roles including serving as Chile's Representative to the World Bank's Board of Directors and Senior Advisor to the Executive Director for Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay. Her academic career includes positions as Assistant Professor at the University of Chile until 2015, visiting professor at the World Bank's Research Department and IMF's Strategy, Policy and Review Department, and lecturer at Georgetown University's Economics Department. Norambuena has contributed significantly to international financial policy through her work as a consultant for both the World Bank and IMF, where she provided technical support and advice to enhance the joint IMF-World Bank Debt Sustainability Framework. Her professional experience also includes roles as an economist at the Central Bank of Chile and professor at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Her academic credentials include a PhD in Economics from Georgetown University, a Master's in Macroeconomics and a Bachelor's in Economics from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

Nathalie Pouokam is an Economist at the IMF's Institute for Capacity Development, bringing expertise in growth dynamics, inequality, and financial stability. Her career includes significant work at the IMF's African Department and a role as Research Analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Her academic background combines a Ph.D. in Economics and an M.S. in Mathematics from the University of Minnesota, where she also taught undergraduate Microeconomics and Macroeconomics. Pouokam's research portfolio focuses on critical areas including inclusive growth, climate change, political economy, risk sharing, and financial stability. Her contributions include influential work on resource wealth management and intergenerational equity, notably through her research on natural resource governance in developing countries. As an author of significant IMF working papers and book chapters on inclusive growth and resource wealth distribution, she continues to shape policy discussions on economic development and inequality reduction.

Charis Christofides is a Senior Economist in the Strategy, Policy and Review Department at the International Monetary Fund, where he has served since 1991. His extensive career spans multiple IMF departments, including the Institute for Capacity Development, with current focus on debt-related issues and sustainable financing initiatives. As a Cypriot national, Christofides brings a wealth of experience in both surveillance and program countries, having worked extensively with European economies and Asian nations including the Philippines, South Korea, and Vietnam. His academic background includes studies at Oxford University and graduate work at Harvard University. His research contributions are particularly notable in forecast evaluation, early warning systems, IMF lending facilities, sovereign bond yield determinants, monetary transmission, exchange rate crises, and labor markets. Christofides has also served as an advisor to the IMF Executive Board for two years, demonstrating his comprehensive understanding of the institution's policy-making processes. His work on crisis forecasting has been influential, as evidenced by his co-authorship of comprehensive evaluations of IMF forecasts during crisis periods, examining macroeconomic variables for bias, efficiency, and information content.