Building on Asia's Strengths During Turbulent Times

Changyong Rhee, director of the Asia and Pacific department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), delivered the speech “Building on Asia's Strengths During Turbulent Times” at a PIIE event on May 26, 2016.

Rhee discussed spillovers from China’s rebalancing and economic transition towards a more sustainable growth model. He focused on three main spillover channels: 1) trade, 2) finance, and 3) commodity prices; and highlighted the differentiated impacts—across countries in the Asia-Pacific region—of spillovers from China in the short and medium term.

Rhee assumed his current position as director of the Asia and Pacific department of the IMF in February 2014. Prior to coming to the Fund, Rhee was chief economist at the Asian Development Bank (ADB). He was the chief spokesperson for ADB on economic and development trends, and oversaw the economics and research department. Rhee was the secretary general of the G-20 summit’s Presidential Committee in the Republic of Korea, as well as vice chairman of the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and chairman of the Securities and Futures Commission of Korea. Prior to his appointment at the FSC, Rhee was professor of economics at Seoul National University and assistant professor at University of Rochester. He was also a frequent and active policy advisor to the government of Korea, including in the Office of the President, the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Bank of Korea, the Korea Securities Depository, and the Korea Development Institute.