Kristalina Georgieva is a Bulgarian economist and the current Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). She was appointed in October 2019, becoming the first woman to hold that position.
The experience of Kristalina Georgieva and her previous roles give her an impressive foundation for leading the IMF. Prior to joining the IMF, she served as Chief Executive Officer of World Bank Group from 2017-2019. Before that, she served as European Commission Vice President for Budget & Human Resources from 2014-2016 and held numerous other senior positions within the European Commission from 1993-2014.
In addition to being well versed in financial matters, Kristalina Georgieva has also been actively involved in environmental issues throughout her career. In 2009, she became Chairperson of UNDP’s Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council; a role which saw her become active on climate change defense initiatives such as “Sustainable Energy for All” and “Green Growth Knowledge Platform” among others.
Since taking up office at IMF, Dr Georgieva has sought to promote gender equality by introducing new policies that focus on increasing women’s access to finance through microfinance schemes or reducing their economic vulnerability by providing better support systems during times of crisis. She also seeks to further global economic stability with programs like Debt Service Suspension Initiative which helps countries hit hard by coronavirus pandemic gain relief from debt service payments until December 2021 so they can adequately respond to health emergency without compromising their development progress or any other essential public services.
Overall, it is clear that Kristalina Georgieva brings both extensive knowledge about international macroeconomic policy and passion for sustainable solutions when it comes managing one of world’s most powerful international organizations – The International Monetary Fund (IMF).
