Biography

Stephen Peachey is OPM's financial sector information specialist, taking the lead on all OPM finance sector work involving large-scale data processing and analysis. A former central bank economist with additional commercial banking experience, he has over 13 years' experience working with central banks and both state-owned and private commercial banks in transition economies and now increasingly in African and Asian developing countries. He has four main areas of work: (i) financial sector reform strategies, particularly benchmarking performance over time, across institutions and between countries; (ii) individual institutional reform, particularly for state-owned financial institutions; (iii) access to finance, particularly its measurement from a supply-side perspective and cross-country comparisons; and (iv) deposit insurance, including detailed operating procedures and risk modelling. Stephen's country experience comprises Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, all three Baltic States, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Bulgaria, Romania, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Macedonia, Serbia, Mexico, the Russian Federation, South Africa, Thailand, Ukraine and Vietnam. His recent work has included detailed financial sector reform strategies and benchmarking exercises in Kenya, Serbia, Ukraine, and Vietnam, plus a range of papers and conference presentations for the World Bank and World Savings Banks Institute on access to finance and the role of savings banks and other accessible finance institutions in building access for all.