Thomas Östros

Thomas Östros (born 26 January 1965 in Gällivare, Norrbotten County) is a Swedish economist, former Social Democratic politician and CEO of the Swedish Bankers' Association. In 2015 he was named Executive Director for Northern Europe at the International Monetary Fund.

Östros was born in Malmberget, as Björn Thomas Waaranperä, the son of an explosives worker and a housewife. His parents changed their Tornedalian family name to Östros when they moved from Norrland to Västerås, because it was easier to pronounce.

Östros has a licentiate degree (a graduate degree in the Swedish university system) in economics from Uppsala University. During his time at university, he was an active member of the local branch of Social Democratic Students of Sweden. He also served as a councillor in the Uppsala Municipal Council.

In 1994 he was elected to the Riksdag as a member of parliament. In 1996, he became the Minister for Taxation at the age of 31, under the Cabinet of Göran Persson, and later served as Minister for Education from 1998 to 2004. In 2004 he switched posts with Leif Pagrotsky and became Minister for Enterprise and Energy, a position he held on to until the Social Democratic defeat at the general elections of 2006. Östros was also the deputy chairman of the Riksdag's committee for Industry and Trade from 2006 to 2008.