Kumar Iyer CMG

Biography

Kumar Iyer was the Director General, Economics, Science and Technology at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) until November 2023. He had been a Director General at the FCDO since its formation in 2020. Before that Kumar was a Director General in the Prime Minister’s COVID-19 Taskforce and the Chief Economist at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) from 2019 to 2020. His career has been split between the private sector, public sector and academia.

Kumar has held senior roles in the private sector in management consultancy with the Boston Consulting Group and Oliver Wyman, including as a Partner within the Financial Service Practice.

Kumar was previously a visiting academic at Hertford College, Oxford University. He conducted his post-graduate studies at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge University. Kumar was a Kennedy Scholar at Harvard University where he was also a Teaching Fellow in international finance and macroeconomics.

Kumar has spent the remainder of his career in the public sector including as:

• Deputy Director of the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit
• Deputy Director, Planning and Budget Coordination at HM Treasury
• British Deputy High Commissioner India and Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for South Asia

Kumar is married and has 2 children. In his spare time he enjoys cricket, chess, cooking and travelling.