Poul M. Thomsen

Danish economist working for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 1982 to 2020. He was a member of the so-called troika that oversaw the negotiations on an aid package for Greece during the global financial crisis.

In 1979 he completed his studies in economics at the University of Copenhagen, where he was employed from 1979 to 1982. From 1987 he worked for the IMF in the former Yugoslavia, also during the civil war from 1991 to 1995. In 1990-1991 he was the IMF representative in Belgrade, Serbia. Between 1992 and 1996 he led IMF missions in Slovenia and Macedonia. Between 1996 and 1998, Poul Thomsen was head of the IMF mission in Romania, where he carried out negotiations on wage cuts. From 1998 to 2000, Thomsen headed the IMF department in Russia, between 2001 and 2004 he was IMF senior representative and head of the office in Moscow.

He then became the director of the IMF's European Department. He led the bailouts of Iceland, Greece, Portugal and Ukraine during and after the Great Recession. He retired from the IMF in July 2020.