Finance ministry welcomes IMF director’s visit |24 July 2012

They held a meeting – also attended by the ministry’s top officials – during which Mr Laporte described her visit as very important and one that will boost the ministry and country’s confidence in the ongoing reforms.

He said the visit will further cement the relations existing between the fund and Seychelles.

Ms Sayeh called the reforms ambitious, successful and “bearing fruit”, noting the IMF has not witnessed similar success “in the last few years in sub-Saharan Africa”.

“We all know that Seychelles has pursued one of the most successful reform efforts and we all want to learn more from it,” she said, adding this is a message that can be sent to other countries.

“I’ll appreciate it more when I see it for myself,” she said.

Ms Sayeh also said the partnership between the IMF and Seychelles is very strong.

A national of Liberia, she assumed office as director in July 2008.

 She had previously held the post of Minister of Finance in Liberia during which she led the country through the clearance of its long standing multilateral debt arrears and significantly strengthening its public finances.

Ms Sayeh also spent a large part of her professional career in various senior posts at the World Bank.