Kristalina Georgieva

Kristalina Georgieva was born in Bulgaria in 1953 and holds a PhD in economics from the University of National and World Economy in Sofia. She built her career at the World Bank, rising to become Chief Executive Officer (2017-2019). Before that, she served as European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, and later as Commissioner for the EU Budget. She became IMF Managing Director in October 2019. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she coordinated the IMF's unprecedented emergency lending program, deploying over $160 billion in rapid financing to member countries. She has also championed the integration of climate risk into IMF surveillance and lending frameworks, making climate finance a central pillar of the Fund's work. In 2021, the IMF allocated $650 billion in Special Drawing Rights to support post-pandemic recovery globally.