The International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Executive Board announced last week that Kristalena Georgieva has been selected to serve a second term as IMF Managing Director. Georgieva's second term will commence in October and span five years.
According to the statement issued by the IMF Executive Board, "In taking this decision, the Board commended Ms. Georgieva’s strong and agile leadership during her term, navigating a series of major global shocks. Ms. Georgieva led the IMF’s unprecedented response to these shocks, including the approval of more than $360 billion in new financing since the start of the pandemic for 97 countries, debt service relief to the Fund’s poorest, most vulnerable members, and a historic Special Drawing Rights (SDR) allocation equivalent to $650 billion. Under her leadership, the Fund introduced innovative new financing facilities, including the Resilience and Sustainability Facility and the Food Shock Window. It replenished the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust, with the capacity to mobilize concessional loans to its poorest members, and co-created the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable," said Afonso S. Bevilaqua and Abdullah F. BinZarah, Coordinators of the Executive Board.
Georgieva first assumed her role as IMF's Managing Director on Oct. 1, 2019. As per the news release, she is not only chair of the Executive Board but also chief of IMF staff with four deputy managing directors under her supervision. She is a Bulgarian national who served as Chief Executive Officer of the World Bank starting in January 2017. Between February and April 2019, she was interim president of the World Bank Group and has served as commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid, and Crisis Response. She holds a Ph.D. in Economic Science and a Master of Art in Political Economy and Sociology from Bulgaria's University of National and World Economy.
In response to her selection for a second term, Georgieva said, "I am deeply grateful for the trust and support of the Fund’s Executive Board, representing our 190 members, and honored to continue to lead the IMF as Managing Director for a second five-year term. In recent years, the IMF has helped our member countries to navigate successive shocks, including the pandemic, war and conflicts, and a cost-of-living crisis. We also stepped up our work on climate change, fragility and conflict, and the digital transition, in line with their increased significance for macroeconomic and financial stability, growth and employment. The IMF’s financial support, policy advice and capacity development work—delivered by our exceptional staff—have contributed to countries' capacity to deal with high uncertainty and abrupt shifts in economic conditions."