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 Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

Early life and education

Ibrahim was born in the Qassim Province in central

on 28 January 1949. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in economic and political science from

King Saud University King Saud University (KSU, ar, جامعة الملك سعود) is a public university in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Established in 1957 by King Saud bin Abdulaziz to address the country's skilled worker shortage, it is the first university in the K ...

Riyadh Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of th ...

, in 1971. He later obtained a Master of Arts degree in economics from the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univ ...

in 1976 and a PhD in economics from Colorado State University 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 ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

where he represented Saudi Arabia at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

. 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 nati ...

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 as finance minister. In addition to being finance minister, Ibrahim was a member of the board of directors of Saudi Aramco 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 The G20 or Group of Twenty is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union (EU). It works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stability, climate change mitigatio ...

meeting in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. 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 Adel Al-Jubeir ( ar, عادل بن أحمد الجبير; born 1 February 1962) is a Saudi diplomat who is the former Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs and the current Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. He is the second person not belon ...

in the post. His tenure ended in October 2019, when Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud was named as the new foreign minister.

Detention

On 4 November 2017, Ibrahim Abdulaziz Al-Assaf was detained in

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 Ibrahim 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