DevTech is proud to announce that Dr. Rafael Romeu, our President and CEO, has been elected to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). This prestigious, nonpartisan organization is dedicated to advancing a deeper understanding of U.S. foreign policy and global affairs.
Founded in 1921, the CFR is a prominent American think tank, providing independent research, policy recommendations, and analysis on foreign policy and international relations. Through its reports, the highly regarded Foreign Affairs journal, and expert-led discussions, the CFR plays a critical role in shaping policy debates among government officials, academics, and global leaders. As one of the most prestigious foreign policy institutions, CFR influences global affairs debates but has no formal government role.
Dr. Romeu brings a wealth of expertise in international finance and economic policy to the CFR. He holds a Ph.D. in international finance from the University of Maryland and has an extensive background in fiscal policy, financial markets, and economic development. Prior to joining DevTech, Dr. Romeu spent over a decade at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), where he worked on fiscal and financial stability issues across various regions. From 2010, he was the IMF’s fiscal economist assigned to Spain, playing a key role in policy discussions during the European Financial Crisis. His work involved advising on fiscal sustainability, tax policy, pension reform, and public finance transparency, collaborating with the European Commission, Eurostat, and the European Central Bank.
Beyond his work at the IMF, Dr. Romeu has advised the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of the Treasury on economic matters related to Latin America and the Caribbean. His research on fiscal sustainability, sovereign debt, and financial market structures has been widely published in peer-reviewed journals and books. He co-led the IMF’s Historical Public Finances in Modern History project, a landmark initiative documenting over 200 years of government debt and deficit trends. He has also held academic positions, including a visiting lectureship in financial theory at Yale University.
After working at the IMF, Dr. Romeu joined DevTech first as Managing Director and later as Chief Executive Officer. He personally led DevTech’s engagement as the principal economic advisor to the Government of Puerto Rico during its $122 Billion default (the largest in U.S. history), which began in 2016 and continues to the present. Dr. Romeu also led DevTech’s engagement with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which involved working closely with the Ministry of Finance on issues related to the Fiscal Sustainability Program, from 2018-2022.
At DevTech, he oversees all aspects of business operations, manages a technical team comprised of economists, evaluation specialists, and analysts whose work focuses on USG funded activities in performance and impact evaluations based on the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Development Assistance Committee (OECD/DAC) criteria, experimental and quasi-experimental methodologies, tool development for data collection and statistical analysis, and international economic analysis.
In addition to CFR, Dr. Romeu is a member of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), one of the leading U.S. think tanks on international relations, security, and foreign policy. At CSIS, he contributes to research on country debt crises and strategies for recovery.
DevTech congratulates Dr. Romeu on this significant recognition and looks forward to his continued contributions to shaping economic policy on the global stage.
