Posted by Holger van Eden
One of the PFM Blog’s most prolific writers and one of the Fiscal Affairs Department’s (FAD) most-seasoned PFM experts, Ian Lienert, is taking early retirement and leaving the IMF today. Ian has had a long and fruitful career at the Fund, having worked earlier at the New Zealand Treasury and the OECD, before joining the Fund in 1989. He joined the Public Expenditure Management Division, as it was known then, in 1998. Ian has been a source of knowledge, advice, review and mentoring for his colleagues on a wide variety of PFM issues. His edits to draft papers were often dreaded for their detailed and intense scrutiny! Ian took no prisoners irrespective of whose work he was commenting on, but always ended on a constructive note for the author in question. Externally he is probably most well-known for his many publications on budget law and the role of the legislature in the budget process, including his reference work The Legal Framework for Budget Systems – An International Comparison, written with Moo-Kyung Jung.
As most of his colleagues know, Ian is quite the Francophile – much more than most Frenchmen – thanks to his eight years at the OECD in Paris. He will be refocusing his life on living in the South-West of France (near Toulouse) and working there with his wife Annie for Christian charities. Maybe, and only maybe, he will have time for some consultancy down the road. From the PFM Blog and all the colleagues here in the PFM divisions we wish Ian and his family all the very best, and we hope to continue to receive postings from him from time to time. For those who have missed them, we publish below Ian’s top ten, best read blog posts over the past few years.
1. PFM blog: Activity-Based Costing: Is it Applicable in Governments?
2. PFM blog: Indonesia – The Challenges of Implementing a Performance-based Budget System
3. PFM blog: Canada creates a Parliamentary Budget Office
4. PFM blog: Cash management – IMF Technical Guidance Note
5. PFM blog: Recent Developments in Public Sector Accounting – World Bank Seminar
6. PFM blog: Drafting Budget System Laws – IMF Technical Guidance Note
7. PFM blog: Should Budgetary Revenue Projections be Deliberately Pessimistic?
8. PFM blog: Egypt hosts OECD Budget Law Seminar
9. PFM blog: France improving its medium-term budget framework
10. PFM blog: Legislative Oversight and Budgeting – A World Perspective
Note: The posts on the IMF PFM Blog should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy.
