Ralf is Head of S&P Global Market Intelligence Middle East and Northern Africa economic forecasting team. Aside from the regional economic overview, he is covering and presenting on Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Iraq in particular. Prior to that, he has held a number of positions at S&P Global Market Intelligence and preceding companies, including in the Economics and Country Risk (ECR) consulting team, and in the European economic forecasting team. He joined the company in 2004.

Ralf is a German national. He has a Ph.D. degree in economics from Potsdam University, where he graduated in 2002. He earned a Master degree (Diplom) in 1997 from the same university. He is fluent in German (mother tongue) and English and has proficient knowledge of Russian and French.

Among the projects he was working on prior to joining the MENA team, a landmark study for a German industry consortium featured that examined the linkage between energy costs, competitiveness and growth for Germany.

Ralf was chief economic adviser for the National Energy Strategy study which S&P Global Market Intelligence conducted for the Oman Public Authority of Electricity and Water. He also worked on national energy strategies with other government clients in similar roles.