Merdanguly Palivanov was born on 7 November 1984 in the town of Bäherden in Ahal province. He graduated in 2004 from the Specialized Banking School named after Hero of Turkmenistan Atamyrat Niyazov with a qualification in world economy, and in 2009 from Magtymguly Turkmen State University with a degree in geography. In 2014 he completed a professional development programme for civil servants at the Academy of Civil Service under the President of Turkmenistan. He began his banking career in 2004 at the State Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs of Turkmenistan, where he worked for nearly thirteen years. Starting as a Leading Specialist in the Personnel and Records Department, he rose to Chief Specialist through positions in the Bank Cards Department of the Settlement Operations and Information Technology Directorates (2009–2015) and in the Corporate and Retail Accounts Departments (2014–2016), gaining hands-on experience in payment card systems, settlements and account services. In September 2016 he was appointed Head of the Settlement Operations Department of the Bank's Ashgabat City Branch. On 4 March 2017 he was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Central Bank of Turkmenistan, a post he continues to hold. He also serves as Alternate Governor for Turkmenistan at the World Bank and at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and represents the Central Bank of Turkmenistan on the Steering Committee of the IMF's Caucasus, Central Asia and Mongolia Regional Capacity Development Center (CCAMTAC). In these roles he has taken part in working visits and international financial events in the United States (regularly since 2017), Germany, Poland, Indonesia, Japan, Iran, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Kazakhstan, Morocco, France, Tajikistan, Georgia, Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. He speaks Turkmen and Russian.