Bob Kieffer Appointed Director of Luxembourg Treasury, Government Posts Positive Balance of €121m

Following the announcement of the departure of Isabelle Goubin, the Luxembourg Cabinet has decided to appoint Bob Kieffer to the position of Director of the Treasury, with effect from 1 July 2019.

Currently the first government adviser to the Ministry of Finance, Bob Kieffer will continue to ensure overall coordination with the general secretary team.

In addition, Vincent Thurmes, who is in charge of the "Financial Services, Financial Stability and Regulatory Framework of the Financial Centre" team, and Nima Ahmadzadeh, in charge of the "Economic and Budget Affairs" team at the Ministry of Finance under Isabelle Goubin's responsibility, have been promoted to directors with effect from 1 July 2019. Vincent Thurmes will also become Permanent Secretary of the High Committee for the Financial Market (HCPF), whilst Nima Ahmadzadeh will chair the Intergenerational Sovereign Fund (FSIL).

In this context, Maureen Wiwinius, adviser to the Ministry of Finance, will take over the presidency of the Financial Sector Supervisory Commission (CSSF). Similarly, Tom Theobald, director of development and promotion of the financial centre, will take over from Isabelle Goubin to represent the Ministry of Finance on the Executive Committee of Luxembourg for Finance. For her part, Jennifer de Nijs, Attaché, has been appointed Project Officer for Sustainable Finance, which is a priority area for development under the December 2018 coalition agreement.

In recognition of her merits, Isabelle Goubin has been appointed Honorary Treasurer. She will also continue to chair the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance and will remain a member of the HCPF.

The Cabinet also approved the draft law governing the settlement of the general account for the 2018 financial year. The 2018 general account closed with a deficit of €425.1 million while the voted budget indicated a deficit of €966.9 million.

Excluding exceptional operations, the 2018 financial year closed with a deficit of €25.1 million, an improvement of €941.8 million compared to the voted budget. This improvement was mainly due to capital gains in tax revenue. As for expenses, these are evolving globally in line with the voted budget, with a difference of 1.15% in terms of total expenditure.

The presentation of the figures according to the European accounting standard SEC2010 showed a central government balance in 2018 of +€121 million, which represents an improvement of €1.031 million compared to the voted budget.