Public Policy Seminar Series
"Economic Challenges for Policy Makers"
His Excellency Muhammad Al-Jasser
Governor, Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency
Thursday, December 1, 3:30 – 5.00 pm
INTS 1128 Screening Room
His Excellency Muhammad Al-Jasser is governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) since February 2009 after having served as vice governor for 15 years. He began his career at the Saudi finance ministry in 1981 and later became executive director for Saudi Arabia at the International Monetary Fund, a post he held until 1995. He helped negotiate Saudi Arabia's accession to the World Trade Organization in 2005. H.E. the Governor Al-Jasser also chairs state-controlled Saudi Telecom, the kingdom's biggest telecom firm by market value, and sits on the boards of several other Saudi and regional institutions including the Islamic Development Bank and Arab Monetary Fund. SAMA ranks as the fourth biggest central bank in terms of reserves, after China, Japan and Russia.
After joining SAMA in 1995, H.E. the Governor Al-Jasser helped devise the central bank's response to a decade-long oil price rally, an onslaught of currency speculation in 2007 and, most recently, an oil price slump and credit crisis. One of his main actions during the recent financial crisis was to more than double the central bank's gold reserves.
H.E. the Governor Al-Jasser earned a B.A. in economics from San Diego State University in 1979 and an M.A. in 1981 and Ph.D. in 1986 in economics from the University of California, Riverside.
If you have further questions, please contact Tracy Avery at 951-827-4290 or tracy.cordova@ucr.edu.
