That was a role he held between 2011 and 2023, overlapping his time as finance minister between 2007 and 2015. He began his career as an economist at the MAS in 1982 after a receiving a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the London School of Economics, a Master of Philosophy in Economics from the University of Cambridge and a Master in Public Administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. He was also short-listed for the top job at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Shanmugaratnam spent 22 years as a member of parliament, holding several governmental roles including deputy prime minister,