Kristalina Georgieva

Kristalina Georgieva

Kristalina Georgieva has been serving as Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund since October 1, 2019. In April 2024, the IMF’s Executive Board appointed her for a second term, which started on October 1, 2024.

In her first term, Ms. Georgieva led the IMF’s response to multiple global shocks: the pandemic, war, and an inflation surge. During that time, the IMF injected about $1 trillion in reserves and liquidity, including through an historic $650 billion allocation of SDRs, and engaged in lending to nearly 100 member countries. It adopted a first-ever climate strategy and created the Fund’s first long-term lending instrument – the Resilience and Sustainability Trust. In 2023, the IMF completed its 16th Review of Quota, resulting in an agreement to increase quota shares to member countries by 50 percent on an equi-proportional basis.

Ms. Georgieva’s tenure at the IMF has also been marked by progress on diversity, equity and inclusion, including the addition of a third Sub-Saharan African Chair to the IMF Board and increased regional diversity and gender balance among IMF management and staff.

Before joining the IMF, Ms. Georgieva was CEO of the World Bank from January 2017 to September 2019, during which time she also served as Interim President of the World Bank Group for three months.

Previously, Ms. Georgieva helped shape the agenda of the European Union while serving as European Commission Vice President for Budget and Human Resources. In this capacity she oversaw the EU’s €161 billion (US $175bn) budget and 33,000 staff, as well as the EU’s response to the Euro Area debt crisis and the 2015 refugee crisis. Before that, she was Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, managing one of the world’s largest humanitarian aid budgets.

Ms. Georgieva began her career in public service at the World Bank as an environmental economist in 1993. After holding many senior positions, including Director for Sustainable Development, Director for the Russian Federation, Director for Environment, and Director for Environment and Social Development for the East Asia and Pacific Region, she was appointed as Vice President and Corporate Secretary in 2008. In this role, she served as the interlocutor between the World Bank Group’s senior management, its Board of Directors, and its shareholder countries.

Ms. Georgieva serves on many international panels including as co-Chair of the Global Commission on Adaptation, co-chair of the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Humanitarian Financing, a member of the Board of Trustees of the World Economic Forum and a member of the Steering Committee of the Paris Peace Forum. She has authored and co-authored over 100 publications on environmental and economic policy, including textbooks on macro- and microeconomics.

Born in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 1953, Ms. Georgieva holds a Ph.D in Economic Science and a M.A. in Political Economy and Sociology from the University of National and World Economy, Sofia, where she was an Associate Professor between 1977 and 1993. During her academic career, she was visiting fellow at the London School of Economics and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In 2010, she was named “European of the Year” and “Commissioner of the Year” by European Voice in recognition for her leadership in the EU’s response to humanitarian crises. She was named to TIME’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world, in 2020.  In October 2020, she received the Atlantic Council’s Distinguished International Leadership Award in acknowledgement of exceptional and distinctive contributions during her career of public service. In 2024, She received the Ugo La Malfa Award for her contribution to international cooperation.