Ibrahim Abdulaziz Al-Assaf

Ibrahim bin Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al-Assaf^[1] (Arabic: إبراهيم بن عبد العزيز بن عبد الله العساف‎; born 28 January 1949) is the current finance minister of Saudi Arabia.

Early life and education

Ibrahim was born in the Qassim Province in central Saudi Arabia on 28 January 1949. He received a bachelor of arts degree in economic and political science from King Saud University, Riyadh, in 1971. He later obtained a master of arts degree in economics from the University of Denver in 1976 and a PhD in economics from Colorado State University in 1982.

Career

Ibrahim initially pursued a teaching career, becoming a teaching assistant and then visiting lecturer at King Abdulaziz Military Academy from 1971 to 1983. He was appointed an assistant professor and head of the Department of Administrative Services in 1982, and served until 1986. During that period, he also served as economic adviser to the Saudi Fund for Development.

After leaving academia, Ibrahim moved to Washington, DC where he represented Saudi Arabia in the IMF and World Bank. In 1986, he was appointed alternate executive director at the IMF for Saudi Arabia. He left in 1989 to take up the executive directorship for Saudi Arabia at the World Bank.

Upon his return to Saudi Arabia in 1995, he served briefly as vice governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, the country's central bank. He left to join the Council of Ministers as minister of state in October 1995. In January 1996, he was appointed minister of finance and national economy, a position that was renamed minister of finance in 2003.^[2] He replaced Abdul Aziz Abdullah Al-Khuwaiter as finance minister.^[2]

In addition to being finance minister, Ibrahim is a member of the board of directors of Saudi Aramco (since 1996), the state-owned national oil company,^[3] chairman of the Saudi Fund for Development and member of the Public Investment Fund board.

Personal life

Ibrahim is married and has 4 children.

References