Geoffrey J. Bannister is senior economist in the International Monetary Fund’s Asia & Pacific Department and Mission Chief for Lao PDR. He has worked in a number of area and functional departments at the IMF and has led missions to Antigua and Barbuda (under a Stand-by Program) and Samoa. His recent research has focused on welfare measures across countries, international trade and dollarization. He has published in a number of economics journals. Before coming to the Fund he was a consultant to the Harvard Institute for International Development, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Mexican government and a number of other international organizations.