Peter Praet (born 20 January 1949 in Herchen near Eitorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Allied-occupied Germany) is a Belgian economist who served as a member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank from 2011 to 2019 and concurrently as ECB chief economist following his 2012 appointment.

[6] In this capacity, his main task was to lay the ground for Reynders’ Eurogroup presidency in 2001 and oversee the country's most ambitious tax-reform plan in decades.

[9] Before his appointment, Praet was nominated several times by the Belgian government to join the ECB Board.

In 2004, his candidacy failed when the German, French, Italian and Spanish governments agreed the biggest Eurozone countries should always have a national member on the six-member board, and therefore chose José Manuel González-Páramo.

In 2010, when Praet was proposed to the bank's vice-presidency, governments agreed that the position should go to a sitting governor of a central bank and not, as Praet then was, a director;[10] as a consequence, Vítor Constâncio was chosen by the European Council to replace Lucas Papademos as vice-president.