Geoffrey Okamoto
Geoffrey Okamoto | |
---|---|
First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund | |
In office March 19, 2020 – January 21, 2022 | |
President | Kristalina Georgieva |
Preceded by | David Lipton |
Succeeded by | Gita Gopinath |
Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Finance and Development | |
Acting | |
In office July 2018 – March 19, 2020 | |
President | Donald Trump |
Preceded by | Ramin Toloui |
Succeeded by | Brent Neiman |
Personal details | |
Born | Geoffrey William Seiji Okamoto January 18, 1985 Torrance, California, U.S. |
Political party | Republican |
Education | California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (BS) Georgetown University (MPP) |
Geoffrey William Seiji Okamoto (born January 18, 1985) is an American economist and government official who served as first deputy managing director of the
Okamoto left the global lender in early 2022, and was replaced by Gita Gopinath.[3]
Early life and education
Okamoto was born in
He attended the
In 2019, Georgetown University awarded Okamoto the 1820 Graduate Award for "outstanding leadership and service to the university."[8]
Career
Consulting
Okamoto began his career as a consultant for KPMG in 2008. He worked with clients in the financial services, asset management, technology, and healthcare sectors on matters related to regulatory compliance, risk management, and operational efficiency.[9]
Congressional aide
While completing graduate studies at Georgetown University, Okamoto was hired by
While policy director, he worked to force conditions on additional funds the Obama administration sought for the International Monetary Fund.
In 2014, he was hired by Pat Toomey to serve as his chief advisor for the Senate Banking Committee. When Republicans regained the majority in the Senate in 2016, Okamoto became the majority staff director for the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Financial Institutions.[15]
U.S. Department of the Treasury
In November 2016, Okamoto was recruited onto the transition team for Donald Trump working on the Treasury Department's landing team, focussing on international economics and domestic finance. In 2017, the President appointed him deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury within the Office of International Affairs, with responsibilities over international financial institutions and sovereign debt matters.[16] He launched the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative, a key priority Ivanka Trump, and currently serves as chairman of its Governing Committee.[17]
Upon the administration withdrawing its initial nominee for assistant secretary, Okamoto was elevated to serve, on an acting basis, as assistant secretary for international finance and development. Okamoto was responsible for several divisions with responsibilities for regional and bilateral economic engagement, international economic coordination through the
Okamoto represented the United States on the board of the World Bank's Global Environment Facility.[19] He has been active in assisting governments with economic reform, including Argentina, Haiti, Jordan, Latvia,[20] Somalia,[21] and Ukraine.[22]
Okamoto also held concurrent appointments by President Trump to be Acting Governor of the
-
Okamoto (center), in his capacity as acting Assistant Secretary for International Finance and Development, at a board meeting of the Millennium Challenge Corporation in 2019
IMF
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva nominated Okamoto to serve as her Deputy on March 12, 2020. Ms. Georgieva came to know Mr. Okamoto during his time at Treasury through his engagement with the IMF and World Bank. In her endorsement, Ms. Georgieva cited Okamoto's role to help bolster and preserve the IMF's lending envelope during the previous two IMF resource reviews.[24]
At the IMF, Okamoto has called for debt relief for poorer countries suffering the economic harm resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. [25] [26]
On April 12, 2021, Okamoto set a goal of distributing a $650 billion allocation of Special Drawing Rights monetary reserves to member countries by the summer of 2021.[27]
Blog
In 2019 it was reported that Okamoto had run the blog TheOka(DOT)Net in 2004 and 2005. The blog highlights a number of fringe opinions including advocacy for torture in the War on terror and bombing Al-Jazeera transmitters.[28]
References
- ^ "Alumnus Geoffrey Okamoto Approved as IMF's No. 2 Official | PolyCentric". 25 March 2020.
- ^ "PN23 - Nomination of Geoffrey William Seiji Okamoto for Department of the Treasury, 116th Congress (2019-2020)". 3 January 2020.
- ^ Shalal, Andrea; Lawder, David (2021-12-02). "IMF says chief economist Gopinath to replace Okamoto as No. 2 official". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-12-03.
- ^ "Interning At The Top | PolyCentric". polycentric.cpp.edu. 2 March 2008. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
- ^ "Alumni Board". mccourt.georgetown.edu. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
- ^ S., Okamoto, Geoffrey W. (2011). The effect of bank reserve requirements on lending volume and interest rates faced by borrowers (thesis). Georgetown University.
{{cite thesis}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "McCourt School Policy Perspectives Fall 2017 Page 27". issues.washingtoniancustommedia.com. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
- ^ "Service Recognition Award Recipients". Georgetown Alumni. 2015-08-05. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
- ^ "McCourt School Policy Perspectives Fall 2017". Retrieved 2018-07-30.
- ^ "Cong. Dir. 112th - Congressional Directory for the 112th Congress (2011-2012), December 2011". www.gpo.gov. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
- ^ "Cong. Dir. 113th - Congressional Directory for the 113th Congress (2013-2014), February 2014". www.gpo.gov. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
- ^ "Obama tries again to get approval of IMF reform". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
- ^ "On Colombia, the IMF, robots, the media, Africa, jobs, streaming, Northern Ireland". The Economist. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
- ^ "IMF Survey : IMF Reforms Policy for Exceptional Access Lending". IMF. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
- ^ "Quarles geography issue fixed?". POLITICO. 4 May 2017. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
- ^ "5 key developments out of White House -- raft of new agency personnel -- Senate to vote on FDA head next week". POLITICO. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
- ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
- ^ "PN23 - Nomination of Geoffrey William Seiji Okamoto for Department of the Treasury, 116th Congress (2019-2020)". 3 January 2020.
- ^ "GEF Council Meeting Summary of the Chairs" (PDF).
- ^ курс, The Baltic Course-Балтийский. "Latvian financial sector still facing major changes - Reirs". The Baltic Course | Baltic States news & analytics. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
- ^ "Somalia PM holds talks with top US officials in Washington". Garowe Online. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
- ^ "NBU independence important for Ukraine's financial stability, investment attractiveness". Interfax-Ukraine. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
- National Archives.
- ^ "IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva Proposes the Appointment of Geoffrey Okamoto as First Deputy Managing Director". International Monetary Fund. March 12, 2020.
- ^ Peru, Gabriele Steinhauser in Johannesburg, Saeed Shah in Islamabad, Pakistan, and Ryan Dube in Lima (8 April 2021). "As U.S. Economy Roars Back, Life in Many Poor Countries Gets Worse". Wall Street Journal.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "IMF Reserves No Substitute for Debt Restructuring, Official Says". Bloomberg.com. 9 April 2021.
- ^ Lawder, David (12 April 2021). "IMF aims to distribute SDR reserves this summer, Okamoto says". Reuters.
- ^ Seidman, Jesse (5 February 2019). "Blog That Ran Under Trump Treasury Nominee's Name Advocated Torture and Suggested Bombing Al Jazeera". news.vice.com. Vice News. Retrieved 5 February 2019.