Spring Meetings

Gita Gopinath is the First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as of January 21, 2022. In that role she oversees the work of staff, represents the Fund at multilateral forums, maintains high-level contacts with member governments and Board members, the media, and other institutions, leads the Fund’s work on surveillance and related policies, and oversees research and flagship publications. Ms. Gopinath previously served as the Chief Economist of the Fund from 2019-22. Prior to joining the IMF, Ms. Gopinath was the John Zwaanstra Professor of International Studies and of Economics at Harvard University’s economics department (2005-22) and before that she was an assistant professor of economics at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business (2001-05). Ms. Gopinath received her Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University in 2001, after earning a B.A. from Lady Shri Ram College and M.A. degrees from Delhi School of Economics and the University of Washington. 

Adama Coulibaly, Minister of Finance and Budget of Côte d'Ivoire since October 2023. He has a vast experience in public policies as a chief of staff in 2014 and then Minister of Finance and Economy since September 2019. In October 2023, he has been reappointed as Minister of Finances and Budget. He also has experience in the international organizations as the UNDP Country Director managing operations in Guinea and in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from 2008 to 2014. He also holds an important regional policy implementation role as the current President of the West African Monetary Union (WAMU) Council of Ministers. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from University of Paris 2 Panthéon-Sorbonne. 

Vitor Gaspar is Director of the Fiscal Affairs Department at the IMF. He joined in 2014. Before that, he was Portuguese Minister of State and Finance from 2011–13 and has held various positions in European and Portuguese institutions, including head of BEPA at the European Commission, director-general of research at the European Central Bank, director of Economic Studies and Statistics at the Central Bank of Portugal, and Director of Economic Studies at the Portuguese Ministry of Finance. Mr. Gaspar holds a Ph.D. and a post-doctoral agregado in Economics from Universidade Nova de Lisboa; he graduated from Universidade Católica Portuguesa. 

Marjeta JAGER is currently Deputy Director-General for the Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA). Ms JAGER has been working in the European Commission since 2005, starting as Director for Security in DG Energy and Transport and later being Director for international energy and transport files and coordination, as well as being Head of Cabinet of the Transport Commissioner. Before joining the Commission Ms JAGER was more than a decade working on the accession of Slovenia to the EU for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and she was the first Deputy Permanent Representative (Coreper I) of Slovenia to the EU.

Gilles Roth was born on 1 March 1967 in Luxembourg. He studied law at the “Centre Universitaire de Luxembourg” and the “Université Catholique de Louvain” (UCL) in Belgium, where he obtained a degree in law and another degree in business administration and management.  Following the legislative elections of 8 October 2023, Gilles Roth was appointed Minister of Finance on 17 November 2023 in the coalition government formed by the Christian Social Party (CSV) and the Democratic Party (DP). Gilles Roth was elected municipal councilor in 1993 and became mayor of the city of Mamer in 2000. He joined the Parliament in April 2007 and was reconducted until 2023. In 2013, he became Chairman of the CSV political group.  From 1991 to 1994, Gilles Roth practiced as a lawyer. In 1995, he started working at the Ministry of Finance, before being seconded to the Luxembourg Court of Auditors and the Permanent Representation of Luxembourg to the European Union in Brussels. In 1998, he returned to the Ministry of Finance and became government advisor, later senior government advisor.

Bård Vegar Solhjell was appointed in January 2020, after 1½ year as Secretary General of World Wide Fund for Nature in Norway (WWF). Held senior positions at the Norwegian Socialist Left Party from 2001–17, including vice-chairman, Member of the Parliament (2013–17),  Minister of Education (2007–09), and Minister of Environment (2012–13). He holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Oslo and the University of Bergen and has written several books. 

Carlos Fernandez Valdovinos, Minister of Economy and Finance of Paraguay since August 2023. He has vast experience in the implementation of public policies, having been President of the Central Bank of Paraguay between 2013 and 2018 and Chief Economist of the Central Bank of Paraguay between 2001 and 2004. He also worked in international organizations in several capacities, including as IMF Resident Representative for Brazil and Bolivia (2011-13), IMF senior economist in the Africa, Europe and Western Hemisphere Departments, and Senior Economist for Argentina at the World Bank in Washington, DC (2004-2006). He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago. 

Vincent Van Peteghem is Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, in charge of the Coordination of the Fight against Fraud and in charge of the National Lottery in the Belgian Federal Government. Minister Van Peteghem started off his career as professor of Operations Management and director of Education Innovation at the EDHEC Business School in Lille when he was sworn in as a member of the Chamber of Representatives for the political party cd&v in 2016. He became mayor of the Flemish town De Pinte in 2019. In the same year, he also took up his position as a Flemish Member of Parliament, until he was sworn in as deputy prime minister for cd&v and minister of finance in the federal government on 1 October 2020. He obtained a PHD in Economics from Ghent University in 2010. He is married and has three children.  

Franck Bousquet is the Deputy Director of the Institute for Capacity Development. Previously, Franck was the deputy director coordinating the Fund’s engagement with Fragile and Conflict-affected States (FCS). Notably, Franck led the preparation of the IMF FCS Strategy approved by the Board in March 2022. Before joining the IMF, he was the senior director of the World Bank’s Fragility, Conflict and Violence (FCV) Group where he led the development of the Bank’s first FCV Strategy. In this role, he mobilized expertise and supported teams across the Bank to design and implement programs in collaboration with humanitarian-development-peace partners, including the implementation of the $25 billion International Development Association financing package for the poorest countries. Franck previously held roles in the public and private sectors focused on sustainable development, finance and capital markets. He holds an MBA with a specialization in finance from Columbia Business School and a graduate diploma in engineering from France.