Maria Soledad Martinez Peria is an Assistant Director in the Research Department of the IMF. She manages the Macro-Financial Division responsible for conducting research and policy work on macroeconomic and financial issues critical to Fund surveillance activities, with a focus on macro-financial linkages, financial flows, and financial systems. Prior to joining the IMF, Sole was a Research Manager, at the World Bank. Sole also held short-term positions at the Brookings Institution, the Central Bank of Argentina, and the Federal Reserve Board. Sole’s research addresses questions related to financial crises, bank competition, financial inclusion, SME finance, macroprudential policies, and digital currencies. She has a PhD in economics from the University of California, Berkeley and a BA from Stanford University.