May 8 (Reuters) - Position: Governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (central bank) Incumbent: Ahmed al-Kholifey Term: Since May 2016

Key facts:

-- Ahmed Abdulkarim al-Kholifey was appointed by King Salman to head the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), replacing Fahad bin Abdullah al-Mubarak

-- Since May 2013, he had served as SAMA's deputy governor for research and international affairs

-- Between 2011 and 2013 he was the executive director for Saudi Arabia at the International Monetary Fund in Washington

-- Between 2000 and 2010, he served in several posts at SAMA, including director-general of the economic research and statistics department

-- He has also worked as a fellow researcher at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, at the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources in Riyadh, and as a part-time lecturer at a technical college in Riyadh

-- In 2000, Kholifey graduated with a master's degree and Phd in business administration and economics from Colorado State University in the United States

-- In 1993, he completed his a master's degree in economics at Portland State University in the United States, and graduated as a bachelor in law in 1987 from King Saud University, Riyadh (Reporting by Andrew Torchia)