Anna Ivanova is a Deputy Division Chief in the Regional Studies Division of the IMF’s Western Hemisphere Department. Previously, she was mission chief for Ecuador. Before that, she worked as a lead economist at the World Bank’s Development Prospects Group, led missions to Guatemala and worked with Costa Rica, Germany, Netherlands, Yemen and Egypt. Her research interests include fiscal and external sector policies, financial development and inclusion, the role of international financial institutions and growth. Before her career in economics, Anna worked as a physicist in the Institute of Nuclear Problems in Belarus. She has an Economics Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Master’s degree in Economic Development from Vanderbilt University, and Master’s degree in Nuclear Physics from Belarussian State University.