Tharman has been Deputy Prime Minister in the Singapore Cabinet since May 2011. He continues to serve as Minister for Finance, a role he has performed since Dec 2007.

Tharman was appointed Chairman of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), the policy steering committee of the IMF, in March 2011. He is also a member of the Group of Thirty, also known as "The Consultative Group on International Economic and Monetary Affairs".

He spent much of his earlier professional life at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Singapore's central bank and integrated financial regulator, where he was the chief executive before entering politics in 2001. He has served in economic and education appointments since then, including five years as Minister for Education.

Tharman is currently also Chairman of the MAS. He is in addition Chairman of the International Academic Advisory Panel that advises the government on strategies for the university sector.

Tharman did his undergraduate and masters education in Economics at the London School of Economics and Cambridge University. He later obtained a masters in Public Administration at Harvard University, where he received the Lucius N Littauer Fellow award for outstanding performance and leadership potential.

Married to Jane Yumiko Ittogi, a lawyer by background and now actively engaged in community work and the non-profit arts sector. They have four children.