BIO

He was born on January 9, 1952 in Lodz.

After graduating from the University of Lodz with a degree in economics in 1972, he joined the university’s Department of Economics. In 1978, he received his doctoral degree, and in 1986. – habilitation. Since 1986, he has been affiliated with the Institute of Economic Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences. In 1978-1979 and 1985-1986, he held research internships at Columbia University and the University of Chicago, and in 1990. – at the London School of Economics. In 1994, he was awarded the title of professor of economic sciences.

He has published more than 100 scientific papers devoted mainly to monetary theory and anti-inflationary policies in developing countries. He specializes in applied economics and contemporary economic thought.

In 1990, he became an advisor and consultant to the Ministry of Finance, and later to the Ministry of Ownership Transformation and the Central Planning Office. In 1996, he took a position as a consultant to the World Bank. From 1994 to 1996, he was deputy chairman of the Council for Social and Economic Strategy at the Council of Ministers, and later economic advisor to the President of Poland.

He served twice as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance: in 1997 in the government of Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz and in 2001-2002 in the government of Leszek Miller.

In 2004-2005 he was prime minister of the Polish government.

Professor Belka also held many positions in international institutions. From 2003 to 2004, he was head of the Coalition Council for International Coordination in Iraq (2003), and then director of economic policy at the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, where he was responsible for currency reform, the creation of a new banking system and oversight of the economy, among other things. From 2006 to 2008 he served as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), and from November 2008 he was Director of the International Monetary Fund’s European Department.

On June 10, 2010, he was appointed President of the National Bank of Poland by the Polish Parliament. He took office on June 11, 2010 after being sworn in by the Polish Parliament, and completed his term on June 21, 2016.

In January 2011, he was elected to the Steering Committee of the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) for a three-year term (extended for another three years in 2014). From November 2011 to October 2015, he also served as Chairman of the Development Committee of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. From 2012 to 2016, he was Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Vienna Initiative 2, and from May 2013 to June 2016. – member of the Central Bank Governance Group under the Bank for International Settlements in Basel (BIS).

Professor Belka was sworn in as a new Member of the European Parliament on July 2, 2019. (term 2019-2024). He is a member of the Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, an alternate member on the Parliament’s Committee on International Trade, a member of the Delegation for Relations with the United States and an alternate member on the Delegation for Relations with Central American Countries.

In 2020, he was appointed to the Subcommittee on Fiscal Affairs.