He was the World Bank's chief economist for Latin America and the Caribbean from February 1, 2017 to June 30, 2019, while on leave from Johns Hopkins.

He started his Ph.D. in economics at the University of Chicago in 1983 and graduated in 1987, working under the supervision of Joshua Aizenman and Jacob Frenkel.

Earhart Fellow (1984–1986), sponsored by Prof. Robert E. Lucas Jr. After graduating, he joined the International Monetary Fund's research department.

In 2013, he moved to Johns Hopkins University with an endowed chair, where he is jointly appointed in SAIS and the economics department.

He contributed (jointly with Guillermo Calvo) with a chapter on inflation stabilization and BOP crisis to the Handbook of Monetary Economics (edited by John Taylor and Michael Woodford).

Végh's work on high inflation has been cited in speeches by Ben Bernanke[18] and Charles L. Evans (President of the Federal Reserve of Chicago).

[19] The former Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, referred to Végh's work on fiscal multipliers in a campaign speech in September 2009.