CANADA’S Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland as well as leader of the Opposition in Belize Shyne Barrow are the latest world leaders to heap congratulations on Jamaica’s Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke on his appointment to the post of deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“Thrilled to see that @NigelClarkeJa has been appointed the new deputy managing director at @IMFNews this week,” Freeland wrote on her
X page late last week.

“He is a brilliant economic leader who believes in the power of investing in people and their potential. Congratulations!” she continued.

Similar commendations also came from Barrow.

“Congratulations to Dr Nigel Clarke by the way, he is the minister of finance for Jamaica and he was appointed the deputy managing director of the IMF which is a tremendous accomplishment for Caricom nations that one of our own is at the table, and hopefully that is tremendously beneficial to the Caricom nations and to the Caribbean, and it says a lot about the performance of Prime Minister [Andrew] Holness and his Administration that they have done so well. Certainly his minister of finance has done so well that he has made this accomplishment,” Barrow said in a video post on his
Instagram page.

Congratulations have been pouring in for Clarke since the IMF last Monday announced that he is to be appointed to the position, effective October 31, 2024. It will bring a six-and-a-half year stint as Jamaica’s finance minister to an end.

Clarke will succeed Antoinette Sayeh, who steps down on September 12.

The IMF has three other deputy managing directors — Gita Gopinath, the first deputy managing director; Kenji Okamura; and Bo Li.