Maria Heracleous is currently an Advisor to the Minister of Finance and a member of the Cyprus Economy and Competitiveness Council. She served as Executive Director and member of the Board of the Central Bank of Cyprus from May 2019 to May 2024. Previously, she worked at the IMF Office in Cyprus for five years, first as Senior Economist and later as Lead Economist, overseeing all aspects of cooperation between the Republic of Cyprus and the Fund. Before returning to Cyprus, she was an Assistant Professor at the American University in Washington, D.C., where she taught courses in econometrics and macroeconomics. She was also a Max Weber Postdoctoral Fellow at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. She holds a Ph.D. and an M.A. in Economics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and an M.Sc. and a B.Sc. in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics from the London School of Economics.