Richard is a consultant with the IMF and World Bank, as well as a Senior Research Associate of the ODI. He was Deputy Division Chief in the IMF's Fiscal Affairs Department until December 2009.

Richard Allen is a consultant with the IMF and World Bank, as well as a Senior Research Associate of the ODI. He was Deputy Division Chief in the IMF's Fiscal Affairs Department until December 2009. Before joining the IMF he was a staff member of the World Bank, the SIGMA program at the OECD and the UK Treasury, and was on the board of the European Investment Bank. He has advised the governments of more than 50 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East, on reforms of public financial management, and is the author of many books, articles and book reviews. With Daniel Tommasi, he edited Managing Public Expenditure: a Reference Book for Transition Countries, published by the OECD in 2001. He is currently preparing, with Richard Hemming and Barry Potter, An 'International Handbook of Public Financial Management', which will be published by Palgrave-Macmillan in the fall of 2012. Mr. Allen holds a Master’s Degree in Economics and Public Finance from the University of York, England.