Press Release No. 25/080

IMF Managing Director Establishes Advisory Council on Entrepreneurship and Growth

March 26, 2025

• IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva names prominent individuals to serve on a new Advisory Council on Entrepreneurship and Growth.
• Council members to share their views and experiences on how entrepreneurship and productivity can be promoted by macroeconomic and financial policies.
• Overall goal is to identify policies that will improve resource allocation, foster innovation, and boost private sector-led economic growth.

Washington, DC - As part of the International Monetary Fund’s efforts to help its 191 member countries create more conducive macroeconomic and financial conditions for strong and durable economic growth driven by productivity enhancements, the IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, today convened an inaugural meeting with her new Advisory Council on Entrepreneurship and Growth.

“The medium-term outlook for world economic growth is at its lowest in several decades,” Ms. Georgieva noted. “Much of the slowdown can be attributed to declining productivity growth.”

“The Council brings together a group of leading thinkers and practitioners in business, finance, academia, and policymaking to share their views and experiences on how macroeconomic and financial policies can provide a supportive environment for innovation, entrepreneurship, and productivity—key ingredients for a thriving private sector and strong economic growth,” she added.

The Council’s confirmed members thus far are:

• Professor Ufuk Akcigit, Arnold C. Harberger Professor of Economics, University of Chicago.
• HRH Ambassador Reema Bandar Al-Saud, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United States of America.
• Mr. Marc Benioff, Chair, CEO, and Co-Founder of Salesforce.
• Ms. Ana Botín, Executive Chair, Banco Santander.
• Mr. Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Group.
• Ms. Margherita Della Valle, Chief Executive, Vodafone Group.
• Mr. Tony O. Elumelu, Founder and Chairman, Heirs Holdings.
• Mr. Robert Smith, Founder, Chairman and CEO, Vista Equity Partners.
• Mr. Federico Sturzenegger, Argentine Minister of Deregulation and State Transformation.

The IMF Managing Director’s Advisory Council will meet approximately once every three months in structured discussions under Chatham House rules.

The discussions with the Council will inform the IMF’s analytical agenda and policy research aimed at promoting macroeconomic and financial policies that are conducive to higher productivity growth and can support stronger medium-term economic prospects across its membership.