IMF Connect

Vitor Gaspar
Director of the Fiscal Affairs Department at the IMF

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

Bo Li
Deputy Managing Director, IMF

Bo Li assumed the role of Deputy Managing Director at the IMF on August 23, 2021. He is responsible for the IMF’s work on about 90 countries as well as on a wide range of policy issues. Before joining the IMF, Mr. Li worked for many years at the People’s Bank of China, most recently as Deputy Governor. He earlier headed the Monetary Policy, Monetary Policy II, and Legal and Regulation Departments, where he played an important role in the reform of state-owned banks, the drafting of China’s anti-money-laundering law, the internationalization of the renminbi, and the establishment of China’s macroprudential policy framework.

Joseph Cherian
CEO, President, Dean, and Distinguished Professor, Asia School of Business

Joseph Cherian is CEO, President, Dean, and Distinguished Professor at the Asia School of Business. He has held academic roles at Cornell, NUS, and Boston University, specializing in finance and asset management. Formerly Global Head and CIO at Credit Suisse Asset Management, he oversaw US$67 billion in assets and served on its Global Executive Committee. He advises governments and think tanks across Asia-Pacific on pensions, asset management, and capital market reforms. He holds a B.Sc. from MIT and M.Sc. and PhD in Finance from Cornell University.

Olga Fuentes
Executive Director, World Bank

Olga Fuentes, a Chilean national, is Executive Director at the World Bank Group (WBG), representing the constituency of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay since November 1, 2024. Ms. Fuentes also served as Alternate Executive Director since 2022. Prior to joining the WBG Board, she held various positions at the Chilean Pension Regulator including Deputy Chair of Regulation and Head of Strategic Research and International Affairs (2009-2022). She served as Vice-President of the International Organization of Pension Supervisors (IOPS) and delegate to the OECD Working Party of Private Pensions. Dr. Fuentes holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Boston University.

Liam Byrne
Chair of Business and Trade Committee, House of Commons (UK), & outgoing Chair of the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank & IMF

Hon. Liam Byrne is the Labour MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North, Chair of the House of Commons' Business and Trade Select Committee, and Chair of the Global Parliamentary Network on the World Bank and IMF. A member of His Majesty's Privy Council, he served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster during the Great Financial Crisis, coordinating No 10 for Gordon Brown, and later as Chief Secretary to the Treasury. An economic historian, he has authored over twenty works on economic history, foreign policy, and public service reform. His book Dragons, a history of British capitalism, was published in 2016. He has written for Newsweek, Financial Times, Daily Mirror, Guardian, and New Statesman, and lectured at Harvard, Oxford, and LSE. Liam graduated top of his class from Manchester University and earned a Fulbright Scholarship to Harvard Business School, graduating with honors. He later became a Gwilym Gibbon Research Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford.