[2] Her father, José María Calviño, was a former director general of the Radio Televisión Española (RTVE).

[5] In June 2018 Calviño was chosen by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to be part of his new government as Minister of Economy and Business of Spain, following the motion of censure that the PSOE presented against the previous government of Mariano Rajoy (PP) and that was approved by the Congress of Deputies on 1 June 2018.

[7][8] Following the resignation of Christine Lagarde as managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2019, Calviño was one of the candidates considered by European governments as potential successor;[9] she withdrew after a first round of voting among representatives of the EU's 28 member states and the post went to Kristalina Georgieva instead.

In March, Calviño announced a 200-billion-euro package to fight the economic effects of coronavirus, which included loans and guarantees to self-employed and to small and medium-sized entreprises and large companies.

[37] Unidas Podemos, the coalition partner of the second Sánchez government and its leader, Second Deputy Prime Minister Pablo Iglesias rejected the merger describing it as a "privatization" and criticized that Calviño never revealed to them the existence of this talks.

[45] In December 2020, Calviño defended before the Congressional Economic Affairs Committee that the merger was the best option for the "social interest" since it is the one that contributes the greatest value to investors, including the State, one of the main shareholders.

[49] On 7 December 2021, Calviño was proposed by the Eurogroup as the European candidate for the Presidency of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC),[50] a position compatible with her post as minister of the Spanish government.

[51] In August 2023, the Spanish government nominated Calviño as Spain's candidate to succeed Werner Hoyer as president of the European Investment Bank.

[52][53] After gathering relevant and public support from the German —one of the biggest shareholders—[52] and Belgian —chair of the EIB’s Board of Governors at the moment— governments,[54] the Economic and Financial Affairs Council agreed to her presidency in early December 2023.

[55][56] In March 2024, the Prime Minister of Finland, Petteri Orpo, led 13 other nations-Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, and Sweden-in penning a letter to Calviño, Charles Michel and Alexander de Croo, in which they called for an urgent re-evaluation of EIB policy on defense-related investments in light of the 400-day old Russian invasion of Ukraine.

[57][58][59] Specifically they mentioned "the list of excluded activities.. and other restrictive elements.. A credible defence industry in turn requires investments.

[60] Nevertheless, a few days later Orpo led again a new petition signed this time by 19 countries demanding "to go a step further so that the EIB can provide financing to projects exclusively intended for defense.