Bulgarian managing director of the IMF: Who is Kristalina Georgieva?

Kristalina Ivanova Georgieva-Kinova (August 13, 1953) is a Bulgarian economist who has been Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since 2019. She served as CEO of the World Bank Group from 2017-2019 and served as Deputy Chairman of the World Bank Group from February 1, 2019, to April 8, 2019, following the resignation of Jim Yong Kim. She previously served as Vice President of the European Commission under Jean-Claude Juncker from 2014 to 2016.

Kristalina Georgieva was elected managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on September 25, 2019.

IMF Executive Board announced that Georgieva will be the head of the IMF from 1 October.

In the statement, it was stated that Georgieva's term of office will be 5 years.

Traditionally, a European is elected as the head of the IMF and a US citizen as the head of the World Bank.

EU member country leaders agreed on the name of IMF Director Christine Lagarde, as a result of the negotiations on the name to replace Mario Draghi, whose term as the President of the European Central Bank (ECB) will end.

Lagarde left her post at the IMF due to her candidacy for ECB President.

EU member countries had decided to nominate Georgieva, the CEO of the World Bank, to head the IMF.

Born in Bulgaria in 1953, Georgieva was previously a member of the EU Commission.

October 9, 2021

A new accusation against Kristalina Georgieva

Georgieva, who was accused of changing data in favor of China during her administration of the World Bank, denies these accusations.

The International Monetary Fund IMF discussed whether Kristalina Georgieva should stay in office and it was decided that she should stay in office.

23 May 2022

IMF Managing Director Georgieva suggests 2022 will be a difficult year for the global economy

"With the war (in Ukraine), we learned that there could be unimaginable shocks fueling inflation. In this sense, we learned a broader lesson that we live in a world more prone to shocks," Georgieva said.

Georgieva stated that the Ukrainian economy is expected to enter into a recession, shrinking by at least 35-40 percent, and the Russian economy by 11.5 percent this year, and economic difficulties are felt in economies such as Egypt, Sri Lanka, and Lebanon.

Underlining that there are some important lessons to be learned in many issues that have deeply affected the global economy in the recent period, Georgieva said, "The lesson we can take after the consecutive crises is: think about the unthinkable. Stopping the economy (with the epidemic) was unthinkable. It was unthinkable until a war broke out in Europe. How many times will unthinkable situations occur?"

15 September 2022

IMF: Harsh winter could lead to social unrest in Europe

President Kristalina Georgieva stated that Europe is directly affected by the economic consequences of the current situation in Ukraine, and said that a harsh winter could lead to social unrest in Europe.

Pointing out that inflation is more stubborn and broad-based than thought, Georgieva emphasized that central banks should also be stubborn in the fight against inflation.

Stating that if the targets of the fiscal policy are not adequately determined, it will become the enemy of monetary policy, Georgieva said that this situation will also fuel inflation.