MARCH 22, 2017
With effect from November 2, 2016, Mrs. Michelle Durham-Kissoon was appointed Permanent Secretary (Ag.) in the Ministry of Finance. She has over 23 years’ experience in mobilising external project financing and managing Trinidad and Tobago’s engagements with multilateral development banks (MDBs).
Her external financing experience began in the early 1990s in the Ministry of Planning and Development, with the mobilisation of European Development Fund grant resources for social infrastructure under the Lomé IV Convention. She also played a significant role in mobilising millions of dollars in Inter-American Development Bank loan and grant resources for the financing of various projects and programmes across different sectors of the economy, at both the Ministry of Planning and Development and the Ministry of Finance.
In addition, Mrs. Durham-Kissoon has spent the past seven years defining policy positions for articulation by the Minister of Finance in his capacity as Governor for Trinidad and Tobago, for both the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund. Her responsibilities in this area culminated in her assignment as Advisor for the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago at the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank Group. There, she championed issues such as advocacy against the loss of correspondent banking relationships arising from the de-risking activities of international banks, as well as the development of unique financial instruments to cater for the special needs of small states.