Alexandre Antônio Tombini (born December 9, 1963) is a Brazilian economist. He was President of the Central Bank of Brazil until June 13, 2016, when he was replaced by Ilan Goldfajn. Since September 2019 he is Chief Representative for the Americas, based in Mexico City, of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

Academic life

Tombini graduated in

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

from the University of Brasilia (1984), and has a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in Economics from the

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the Flagship#Colleges and universities in ...

(1991).Insight: Brazil's Tombini - An inflation hawk, believe it or not

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, 23 August 2013, accessed 29 June 2015

Career

Tombini made a career in the federal public sector. He worked in the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Ec ...

between 1991 and 1995, where he headed the technical team negotiating the

Common External Tariff A common external tariff (CET) must be introduced when a group of countries forms a customs union. The same customs duties, import quotas, preferences or other non-tariff barriers to trade apply to all goods entering the area, regardless of which ...

(CET) of

Mercosur The Southern Common Market, commonly known by Spanish abbreviation Mercosur, and Portuguese Mercosul, is a South American trade bloc established by the Treaty of Asunción in 1991 and Protocol of Ouro Preto in 1994. Its full members are Arge ...

. Between 1995 and 1998, he was special advisor to the Board of Foreign Trade, Chief of Staff of the Presidency of the Republic. He was credited for his role in devising a strategy to reduce inflation in 1999. He is an official of the

Central Bank A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the currency and monetary policy of a country or monetary union, and oversees their commercial banking system. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central b ...

since 1998, where he was Director of

International Affairs International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such a ...

(2006) and Director of Special Studies (2006). Between 2001 and 2005, he worked in the office of the Brazilian representation in the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glo ...

. He was also Senior Advisor to the executive director and Member of the executive board of Directors, Brazilian Representative Office, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Washington, D.C., USA, from July 2001 to May 2005; Head of the Research Department, Central Bank of Brazil, Brasília, Federal District, Brazil, from March 1999 to June 2001; Senior Advisor to the Board, Central Bank of Brazil, Brasília, Federal District, Brazil, from May 1998 to March 1999; Special advisor to the Foreign Trade Chamber, Presidential Staff Office, Presidency of the Republic, Brasília, Federal District, Brazil, from February 1995 to May 1998; General Coordinator of Foreign Affairs, Secretariat of Economic Policy, Ministry of Finance, Brasília, Federal District, Brazil, from December 1992 to January 1995; Visiting professor, Department of Economics, University of Brasília, Brasília, Federal District, Brazil. from March 1993 to December 1994; and Coordinator of International Analysis, Department of International Affairs, Secretariat of Planning, Ministry of Economics, Finance and Planning, Brasília, Federal District, Brazil, from September 1991 to December 1992. He was in charge of operating the Global Econometric Model (GEM) developed by the

London Business School London Business School (LBS) is a business school and a constituent college of the federal University of London. LBS was founded in 1964 and awards post-graduate degrees (Master's degrees in management and finance, MBA and PhD). Its motto is " ...

, Head of the technical group in charge of negotiating the Mercosul Common External Tariff (TEC) and Editor of Boletim de Economia Internacional, the International Economics Bulletin, published quarterly by the Ministry. Mr. Tombini holds a Ph.D. in economics,

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

, Urbana Champaign, USA, August 1991 and Bachelor in Economics, University of Brasília, December 1984. He was also a

Visiting Professor In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...

at the University of Brasilia (UNB). On November 24, 2010, Tombini was chosen by President

Dilma Rousseff Dilma Vana Rousseff (; born 14 December 1947) is a Brazilian economist and politician who served as the 36th president of Brazil, holding the position from 2011 until her impeachment and removal from office on 31 August 2016. She is the first ...

for the post of president of the Central Bank by his government, from 2011, replacing Henrique Meirelles and as a means of continuing the economic policy of the Lula government. In his first address, he said he would have full operational autonomy and that his goal is inflation control, which shall not exceed the target of 4.5 percent per year. He also said that the Central Bank's mission will be to ensure the purchasing power of the

Brazilian real The Brazilian real ( pl. '; sign: R$; code: BRL) is the official currency of Brazil. It is subdivided into 100 centavos. The Central Bank of Brazil is the central bank and the issuing authority. The real replaced the cruzeiro real in 1994 ...

. He began his term in office by cutting interest rates from 12.5% to 7.5% however, his term coincided with economic decline in Brazil.

References

External links

Tombini's profile at Central Bank of Brazil site

Brazilian Central Bank Chief Alexandre Tombini's profile
at

Tombini's profile at BIS site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tombini, Alexandre 1963 births Living people Brazilian economists Government ministers of Brazil Presidents of the Central Bank of Brazil People from Porto Alegre University of Brasília alumni University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni