New JVI Director: Ben Kelmanson

Ben Kelmanson was appointed Director of the Joint Vienna Institute in August 2025. He was previously the Head of the IMF’s Offices in Argentina (2022 to 2025) and Türkiye (2018-2022). In these roles, and as IMF Mission Chief for Moldova and Latvia, he supported member countries in designing and implementing macroeconomic and financial policies that promote strong, sustainable and inclusive growth, and help strengthen institutional capacity. Ben has worked at the IMF for over 25 years, serving in the European, Western Hemisphere, and Strategy Policy and Review Departments, and as Advisor to the First Deputy Managing Director. During this time, he worked on IMF lending operations and surveillance cases, and across a wide range of global, regional, country and policy issues, spanning advanced, emerging and developing economies. Before joining IMF staff, he served as an Advisor to the UK Executive Director on the IMF’s Executive Board. Prior to that, Ben worked at HM Treasury in the United Kingdom on a range of domestic and international economic issues. Ben is a British citizen. He studied Economics and Politics at the University of Leeds.