Tuomas Saarenheimo (born 1964) is a Finnish civil servant, who currently serves as the President of the Eurogroup Working Group.

Education and career

Saarenheimo graduated from the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

in 1989 and continued studying afterwards, receiving his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

in economics in 1994. He has also worked as a researcher at the university. Saarenheimo filled several positions at the Bank of Finland. His last post was as Chief Adviser and Head of the Monetary and Research Policy Department. Besides, he has served as the Executive Director for Nordic and Baltic countries at the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glo ...

and as National Expert at the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

. Saarenheimo became the Permanent Under-Secretary for International and Financial Market Affairs at the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Ec ...

in September 2013. Because of this position, he was granted membership of the Eurogroup Working Group, an advisory body that prepares the monthly meetings of the

Eurogroup The Eurogroup is the recognised collective term for the informal meetings of the finance ministers of the eurozone—those member states of the European Union (EU) which have adopted the euro as their official currency. The group has 19 membe ...

. He also became a member of the board of directors of the

European Financial Stability Facility The European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) is a special purpose vehicle financed by members of the eurozone to address the European sovereign-debt crisis. It was agreed by the Council of the European Union on 9 May 2010, with the objectiv ...

, the

eurozone The euro area, commonly called eurozone (EZ), is a currency union of 19 member states of the European Union (EU) that have adopted the euro ( €) as their primary currency and sole legal tender, and have thus fully implemented EMU polici ...

's emergency fund to address government debt. On 1 April 2020 he became President of the Eurogroup Working Group (EWG) after his predecessor Hans Vijlbrief had resigned in order to fill a cabinet position in the Netherlands. Saarenheimo had been elected by the EWG in February, and that decision was later ratified by the Eurogroup. He simultaneously became President of the Economic and Financial Committee. Saarenheimo had been a candidate for EWG president before in 2018, but withdrew.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saarenheimo, Tuomas Academic staff of the University of Helsinki Eurogroup European civil servants Finnish civil servants 20th-century Finnish economists Living people University of Helsinki alumni 1964 births 21st-century Finnish economists