Ibrahim bin Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al-Assaf ( ar, إبراهيم بن عبد العزيز بن عبد الله العساف; born 28 January 1949) is a Saudi politician who served as finance minister, foreign minister, and state minister of Saudi Arabia.

Early life and education

Ibrahim was born in the

Qassim Province The Qassim Province ( ar, منطقة القصيم ' , Najdi Arabic: ), also known as the Qassim Region, is one of the 13 provinces of Saudi Arabia. Located at the heart of the country near the geographic center of the Arabian Peninsula, it has a ...

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 Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

in 1982.

Career

Ibrahim initially pursued an academic 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 The Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) is a Saudi Arabian government agency that provides development assistance to developing countries by financing social and infrastructure projects. The fund seeks to support the economies of recipient countrie ...

. After leaving academia, Dr. Al-Assaf moved to Washington, DC where he represented Saudi Arabia at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the 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 Authority, the country's central bank. He left to join the

Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

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. He replaced

Abdul Aziz Abdullah Al-Khuwaiter Abdul (also transliterated as Abdal, Abdel, Abdil, Abdol, Abdool, or Abdoul; ar, عبد ال, ) is the most frequent transliteration of the combination of the Arabic word '' Abd'' (, meaning "Servant") and the definite prefix '' al / el'' (, mea ...

as finance minister. In addition to being finance minister, Ibrahim was a member of the board of directors of

Saudi Aramco Saudi Aramco ( ar, أرامكو السعودية '), officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (formerly Arabian-American Oil Company) or simply Aramco, is a Saudi Arabian public petroleum and natural gas company based in Dhahran. , it is one of ...

from 1996 and was the chairman of the Saudi Fund for Development and a member of the Public Investment Fund board. In July 2017, Al-Assaf led the Saudi delegation in the G20 meeting in Hamburg, Germany. In January 2018, he led a top level delegation to the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. Ibrahim Abdulaziz Al-Assaf was named foreign minister of Saudi Arabia in December 2018, replacing Adel al-Jubeir in the post. His tenure ended in October 2019, when

Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah bin Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud (Arabic فيصل بن فرحان آل سعود, DMG Faiṣal b. Farḥān Āl Saʿūd; born 1 November 1974 in Frankfurt am Main) is a Saudi Arabian diplomat and politician and ...

was named as the new foreign minister.

Detention

On 4 November 2017, Ibrahim Abdulaziz Al-Assaf was detained in Saudi Arabia in a "corruption crackdown" conducted by a new royal anti-corruption committee. However, the investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing, and he returned to his official duties and his name was cleared.

Personal life

Ibrahim is married and has four children. One of his daughters, Munira, is the spouse of Khalid bin Alwaleed Al Saud.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Assaf, Ibrahim Abdulaziz

Ibrahim Ibrahim ( ar, إبراهيم, links=no ') is the Arabic name for Abraham, a Biblical patriarch and prophet in Islam. For the Islamic view of Ibrahim, see Abraham in Islam. Ibrahim may also refer to: * Ibrahim (name), a name (and list of people ...

1949 births Colorado State University alumni Foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia Finance ministers of Saudi Arabia Government ministers of Saudi Arabia King Saud University alumni Living people Saudi Aramco Saudi Arabian economists University of Denver alumni