Ibrahim al-Assaf

His Excellency Ibrahim Bin Abdulaziz al-Assaf (born in 1949) is a Minister of State and a member of the Council of Ministers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He is the tenth person to serve as Minister of Finance and the fifth to serve as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

He was born in Uyun al-Jiwa Governorate, northwest of al-Qassim Province. He obtained a Bachelor's degree in Economics and Political Science from King Saud University in Riyadh in 1971, followed by a Master's degree in Economics from the University of Denver in the United States in 1976. He then earned a Ph.D. in the same field from Colorado State University in the United States.

He began his professional career in academia, working as a teaching assistant and instructor of economics principles at King Abdulaziz Military College in Riyadh from 1971 to 1982. He also chaired the Department of Administrative Sciences and served as an assistant professor of economics at King Abdulaziz Military College from 1982 to 1986.

Al-Assaf held two ministerial positions: Finance and Foreign Affairs. He was appointed Minister of Finance in 1996 and served in this role for twenty years until 2016. He was then appointed Minister of State and a member of the Council of Ministers. In 2018, a royal decree appointed him as Minister of Foreign Affairs, a position he held until 2019.

He also held several other positions, including Executive Director for the Kingdom on the Board of Directors of the World Bank Group, Alternate Executive Director for the Kingdom at the International Monetary Fund, Dean of the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank Group from 1993 to 1995, and Deputy Governor of the Saudi Central Bank.

Al-Assaf received several honors, including the King Abdulaziz Sash, the Order of the Republic and the Order of the Two Niles from Sudan, the Order of the Lion from the Republic of Senegal, and the Order of Merit from the Republic of Italy.