Political Leaders: International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Leaders of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

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Note: the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was established on December 27, 1945 upon entry in force of the related Agreement adopted by the Bretton Woods Conference on July 22, 1944). The IMF began to operate formally on March 1, 1947.

Look for biographies of the leaders (in Spanish) at CIDOB website.

Managing Directors

Camille Gutt            6 May 1946 -  6 May 1951 (†1971) Belgium  
Andrew N. Overby        6 May 1951 -  3 Aug 1951 (†1984) United States (acting)
Ivar Rooth              3 Aug 1951 -  3 Oct 1956 (†1972) Sweden
H. Merle Cochran        3 Oct 1956 - 21 Nov 1956 (†1973) United States (acting)
Per Jacobsson          21 Nov 1956 -  5 May 1963 (†1963) Sweden 
Frank A. Southard       5 May 1963 -  1 Sep 1963 (†1989) United States (acting)
Pierre-Paul Schweitzer  1 Sep 1963 -  1 Sep 1973 (†1994) France
Johannes Witteveen      1 Sep 1973 - 17 Jun 1978 (†2019) Netherlands
Jacques de Larosière   17 Jun 1978 - 16 Jan 1987         France
Michel Camdessus       16 Jan 1987 - 14 Feb 2000         France
Stanley Fischer        14 Feb 2000 -  1 May 2000         United States (acting)
Horst Köhler            1 May 2000 -  4 Mar 2004         Germany
Anne O. Krueger         4 Mar 2004 -  4 May 2004         United States (acting)
Rodrigo Rato Figaredo   4 May 2004 -  1 Nov 2007         Spain 
Dominique Strauss-Kahn  1 Nov 2007 - 18 May 2011         France
John P. Lipsky         15 May 2011 -  5 Jul 2011         United States (acting, for Strauss-Kahn to 18 May 2011)
Christine Lagarde       5 Jul 2011 - 12 Sep 2019         France                  
David Lipton            2 Jul 2019 -  1 Oct 2019         United States (acting, for Lagarde to 12 Sep 2019)
Kristalina Georgieva    1 Oct 2019 -                     Bulgaria

First Deputy Managing Directors

Stanley Fischer         1 Sep 1994 –  1 Sep 2001         United States
Anne O. Krueger         1 Sep 2001 -  1 Sep 2006         United States
John P. Lipsky          1 Sep 2006 -  1 Sep 2011         United States
David Lipton            1 Sep 2011 - 19 Mar 2020         United States
Geoffrey W. S. Okamoto 19 Mar 2020 - 21 Jan 2022         United States  
Gita Gopinath          21 Jan 2022 -                     India

Directors of Research and (from 1991) Chief Economists

Edward M. Bernstein       1946-1958 (†1996) United States
Jacques J. (Koos) Polak   1958-1979 (†2010) Netherlands
William C. (Bill) Hood    1979-1986 (†2014) Canada
Jacob A. Frenkel          1986-1991         Israel
Michael L. Mussa          1991-2001 (†2012) United States
Kenneth S. Rogoff         2001-2003         United States
Raghuram G. Rajan         2003-2007         India
Simon H. Johnson          2007-2008         United Kingdom
Olivier J. Blanchard      2008-2015         France
Maurice M. Obstfeld       2015-2019         United States
Gita Gopinath             2019-2022         India 
Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas 2022-             France