Dr. Hyginus ‘Gene’ Leon

Caribbean Development Bank
President

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Dr. Hyginus ‘Gene’ Leon is the sixth President of Caribbean  Development Bank (CDB), the regional development finance  institution based in Barbados. He was elected at a Special Meeting of  the CDB Board of Governors held on January 19, 2021 for a five-year  term, and assumed office on May 4, 2021.  Dr. Leon has over 30 years of experience in economic development  and has directed macroeconomic and financial policy support to  government authorities in Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, and the Caribbean. He worked with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for more than 24 years, serving as Mission Chief for Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, The Bahamas, and the Gulf States of Oman, Qatar, and United Arab Emirates, as well as IMF’s Senior Resident Representative in Jamaica and Nigeria. Prior to his engagement with the IMF, Dr. Leon was an Associate Professor at State University of  New York at Old Westbury in the United States. He has also served as Director of Research at  the Central Bank of Barbados and Country Economist at CDB. Dr. Leon holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Economics from the University of Southampton  in the United Kingdom (UK) and a Bachelor of Science Degree (B.Sc.) in Economics from the