Klaas Knot

Klaas Henderikus Willem "Klaas" Knot (born April 14, 1967 in Bedum, the Netherlands) is a Dutch economist and civil servant, who is the current President of the Dutch central bank De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB). In this capacity he also serves as a member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank, and of the Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund.

Early and personal life

Knot was born in the town of Bedum near Groningen. After completing his secondary education (vwo) at the Andreas College in Drachten he studied economics at the University of Groningen. He was later, in 1995, awarded a doctorate from the same instutition, with his doctoral thesis concerning the differences in budget deficits and interest rates on government bonds between Members States of the European Union.

He is married and has two children. He currently lives in Amsterdam, which is where De Nederlandsche Bank is headquartered.

Career

After obtaining his doctorate he began working as a Senior Economist at De Nederlandsche Bank in the Department of Monetary and Economic Policy. In 1998 he left this post to become an economist in the European Department of the International Monetary Fund in Washington D.C.. A year later, he returned to De Nederlandsche Bank, as the Head of Banking and Supervisory Strategies Department. After serving in this capacity for three years, in December 2002 he left De Nederlandsche Bank again to become the Director of the Dutch Pensions and Insurance Authority, charged with supervision of all Dutch pension funds and insurance companies. In 2004 the Pensions and Insurance Authority was merged with De Nederlandsche Bank, and Knot was appointed as Director of the Supervisory Policy Division at De Nederlandsche Bank. In 2009 he left De Nederlandsche Bank once more to become Director of Financial Markets, and Deputy Treasurer General of the Dutch Ministry of Finance.