Assist. Prof. İnci Otker (Ph.D)

Fields of Research: Economics, Financial Economics

E-mail: -

Tel: 0312 386 10 92 / Internal: 1952

Office: Main Campus, 9th Floor

   

Dr. Inci Otker is a distinguished economist with nearly three decades of experience at the International Monetary Fund (IMF, 1992–2021). Most recently, she served as Advisor in the Western Hemisphere Department of the IMF, where she led strategy on financial‑sector stability and resilience, monetary‑policy frameworks, climate-related risks and resilience, and regional integration in Central America and the Caribbean.Previously, she was Division Chief for Central America (Dec 2019–Jul 2020)—leading IMF country missions for Costa Rica and overseeing the work on El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras—and Division Chief for Caribbean 3 (2016–2019), covering Aruba, Curaçao, St. Maarten, Guyana, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago, as well as St. Kitts and Nevis. During the global financial crisis, she headed the Financial Sector Analysis Division of the IMF’s Monetary and Capital Markets Department (2009–2011) and served as Advisor (2013–2016), leading and contributing to the Department’s work on monetary and macroprudential policy frameworks, risks and vulnerabilities of systemically important financial institutions with cross-border operations, and regulatory policies to strengthen financial sector stability and resilience. She also led Technical Assistance and Financial Sector Stability Assessment missions to a range of countries in Central Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

Beyond the IMF, Dr. Otker broadened her development‑finance portfolio as Chief Technical Specialist and Senior Advisor for Finance for Development at the World Bank (2011–2013), leading the production of a range of financial stability assessment products and the Bank’s 2014 World Development Report on Managing Risk for Development. She began her career as a Research Fellow at the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (1985–1987). She holds a PhD in Economics from Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business, and BS and MS degrees in Economics from Middle East Technical University (METU). Her published research covers articles on financial stability, systemically important financial institutions, capital flow management, exchange rate regimes, inflation targeting, financial and currency crises and contagion, regional integration, and global risks such as climate change, and three co-edited books, on Rapid Credit Growth in Central Eastern Europe; Building a Resilient Financial Sector; and Unleashing Growth and Strengthening Resilience in the Caribbean.