New JVI Deputy Director: Thomas Harjes

Thomas Harjes joined the JVI as Deputy Director in July 2025. Previously, he was a Senior Economist in the IMF’s Institute for Capacity Development (ICD) where he was engaged in the delivery, planning, monitoring, and budgeting of the IMF’s Capacity Development activities.  During this time, he managed technical assistance projects with various central banks, including the Bank of Namibia and the State Bank of Vietnam. Prior to his time in ICD, Thomas worked in the IMF’s Monetary and Capital Market’s Department (MCM), where he was the deputy mission chief for the 2020 Korea FSAP, economist for China and Greece, and manager for technical assistance projects in Uzbekistan and Rwanda. Previously, Thomas was IMF mission chief for Malta and the desk economist for the Euro Area in the European Department, after having worked as desk economist for South Africa in the African Department, where he started his IMF career in the Economist Program. In between his IMF assignments, Thomas spent 4 years in Frankfurt as eurozone economist for Barclays bank. Thomas has a doctorate in economics from Universität Köln and previously studied economics at the Institut für Höhere Studien in Vienna, and Ruhr-Universität Bochum.