Richard Allen is a former staff member and Deputy Division Chief of the Fiscal Affairs Department of the IMF. Since April 2021 he has been a consultant on public finance issues. He has contributed to the Blog since its launch in 2007 and a Co-Editor for ten years. He is also a Senior Research Associate with the Overseas Development Institute in London. Before joining the IMF Richard was a senior official at the UK Treasury, the OECD, the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank, and a board member of the European Investment Bank. He has advised the governments of over 80 countries in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia on public finance topics. He is the co-editor of The International Handbook of Public Financial Management, published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2015, and the author of many other books and articles on PFM and fiscal issues.
