Már Guðmundsson (born 21 June 1954) is an Icelandic economist and policy maker. He was the

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

of the

Central Bank of Iceland The Central Bank of Iceland (, ) is the central bank or reserve bank of Iceland. It is owned by the Icelandic government, and is administered by a governor and a seven-member supervisory board, elected by the country's parliament following ea ...

from 2009 to 2019.Prime Minister's Office (Iceland): Prime Minister appoints new Governor and Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Iceland (June 29, 2009) http://eng.forsaetisraduneyti.is/news-and-articles/nr/3798

Career

Prior to becoming Governor of the Central Bank of Iceland, Már served from 2004 to 2009 as Deputy Head of the Monetary and Economics Department and member of Senior Management of the

Bank for International Settlements The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is an international financial institution which is owned by member central banks. Its primary goal is to foster international monetary and financial cooperation while serving as a bank for central bank ...

(BIS), during which time he also served on the Council of Management of SUERF - The European Money and Finance Forum. From 1994 to 2004 he was

Chief Economist Chief economist is a single-position job class having primary responsibility for the development, coordination, and production of economic and financial analysis. It is distinguished from the other economist positions by the broader scope of respons ...

and Director of the Economics Department of the Central Bank of Iceland and from 1991, Manager of the department. Between 1988 and 1991 he was Economic adviser to the

Minister of Finance of Iceland The Icelandic Ministry of Finance (Icelandic: ') is responsible for overseeing the finances of the Icelandic government. The Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs is Daði Már Kristófersson. Organization of the Ministry of Finance The t ...

. Prior to that he was an economist in the Economics Department of the Central Bank, from 1980. Other responsibilities include being chairman of a committee formulating energy policy for the City of Reykjavik, 2002–04. A member of the Board of Directors of Icelandic Alloys Ltd. (a ferro-silicon company owned jointly by the Icelandic state, Elkem a/s in Norway, the Sumitomo Corporation in Japan and Icelandic investors), 2000–03. IMF/MAE adviser to the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago, 1998–99. A member of a government appointed committee revising the Central Bank legislation, 1991–92. Chairman of the Board Directors of "Söfnunarsjóður lífeyrisréttinda" (one of the biggest pension funds in Iceland), 1989–91.

Education

Ph.D. studies in economics at

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, England in 1987–89. M.Phil. degree in economics, University of Cambridge, 1981.

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

(honours) degree in economics,

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, it is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. The university comprises three camp ...

, England, 1979. Studied economics and mathematics during the winter 1976–77 at the

University of Gothenburg The University of Gothenburg () is a List of universities in Sweden, university in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg. Founded in 1891, the university is the third-oldest of the current List of universities in Sweden#Public universities, S ...

in Sweden.

Contribution

Már is considered a leading proponent of the Central Bank's monetary policy strategy of an inflation target and floating exchange rates adopted in March 2001. Since July 2009, he has been influential in charting a course for the Icelandic economy out of the present economic and financial crisis.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gudmundsson, Mar Governors of the Central Bank of Iceland Mar Gudmundsson Living people 1954 births