New IMF Public Financial Management Advisor for South East Europe Joined the CEF

Mr. Duncan Paul Last joined us at the CEF in the position of IMF Public Financial Management Advisor for South East Europe. The CEF therefore continues to host two IMF FAD advisors and their support staff, whose efforts are funded by the Japanese government.

Mr. Last offers 28 years practical experience of working in various areas and traditions of Public Financial Management (PFM), both in the field and, most recently, at IMF headquarters. Prior to his HQ experience he was regional PFM advisor in the IMF’s East Africa Regional Technical Assistance Centers (AFRITAC East). Before that he worked in Slovenia as the IMF’s budget and treasury advisor also covering various countries in the South East European region. During that time he collaborated with the Slovene Ministry of Finance to establish the CEF, with a view to sharing PFM reform experiences between emerging South East European countries. Prior to that, he worked as budget and IFMIS advisor in Mali and Papua New Guinea. He was also a debt management advisor in Papua New Guinea after holding a position of debt management software designer at the Commonwealth Secretariat in UK.

Mr. Last hopes that he will be able to contribute to reenergizing those PFM reform priorities that will help countries in the region address the fiscal challenges arising from the crisis and from actual or prospective membership of the European Union. In particular, Mr. Last hopes to make tangible contributions in the areas of fiscal transparency and fiscal risk management, budget credibility and medium-term budgeting, and management and oversight of public investments and state-owned enterprises. He will also seek to enhance the synergies between technical assistance advice and support provided by the IMF and the learning programs of the CEF. Mr. Last is keenly aware of the need to work closely with others who are active in the area of PFM, notably the European Commission and the World Bank who, like FAD, also have a history of collaboration with the CEF.

We are very much looking forward to continue working with the IMF’s Public Financial Management Advisor to help SEE countries deal with the challenges they face in this field. With Mr. Last's assistance we will proceed with turning the IMF analysis of key problems into well-designed and running learning events. For more information on our learning program on Public Financial Management please see our Catalog of events for 2014 and our Calendar of events for 2015.