Dr. Mounir Siaplay is the first Deputy Minister for Economic Management at the newly formed Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, Republic of Liberia. As Deputy Minister, he serves as the principal advisor to the Government of Liberia on issues of economic policy and management that drive the Agenda for Transformation and Liberia’s Vision 2030. Prior to his appointment as Deputy Minister, Dr. Siaplay served as the Economic Advisor to the President of the Republic of Liberia, Her Excellency Mrs. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.

Dr. Siaplay also served as the Country Economist for the International Growth Centre (IGC) Programme in Liberia, jointly directed by the London School of Economics and Political Science and the University of Oxford. In this capacity, Dr. Siaplay contributed immensely to the creation and delivery of high quality policy and research outputs. These include policy briefs, research papers, synthesis papers and growth events for dissemination to policy makers and the wider audience.

On the academic front, Dr. Siaplay served as a lecturer at the Oklahoma State University and was teaching courses in Microeconomics, Managerial Economics, Money and Banking and Economics of Sport. He was also a research assistant at the North Dakota State University and the Oklahoma State University, working and publishing in peer reviewed journals on a range of topics which include: price volatility and hedging strategies in the wheat market; economics of food safety; the effects of social cash transfers on youth labor force participation and schooling; and the economics of dual citizenship.

Outside of academia, Dr. Siaplay worked as an insurance risk analyst for Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota, freight bill analyst for Val Spar Corporation in Minnesota and as a summer intern banker for Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union in Minnesota.

Dr. Siaplay earned his Ph.D. in Economics from the Oklahoma State University, MSc. in Agribusiness and Applied Economics from the North Dakota State University and a B.A. in Economics and International Relations from the Concordia College. His research interests are: Development Economics and Applied Econometrics.

The Department of Economic Management is responsible for formulating and monitoring the Country's economic policies and programs. It is the principal adviser to Government of Liberia on economic policy, and drives the country’s flagship development agenda the Agenda for Transformation (AFT). The department also deals with all matters relating to debt management and external resource mobilization which include external debt and foreign aid, and relations with bilateral and multilateral financial institutions.

The Economic Management Department is the nodal department dealing with the Central Bank of Liberia on macroeconomic policies. The department also deals with matters concerning financial sector policies including banking, insurance and capital markets. The Department has two Divisions: Economic Policy Macroeconomic and Financial Sector Division, and External Resources and Debt Management.