Ilan Goldfajn (born 12 March 1966) is an Israeli-born Brazilian economist, former governor of the

Central Bank of Brazil The Central Bank of Brazil ( pt, Banco Central do Brasil) is Brazil's central bank. It was established on Thursday, 31 December 1964, a New Year's Eve. The bank is not linked to any ministry, currently being autonomous. Like other central banks ...

and former director of 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 ...

's Western Hemisphere Department. In December 2022, he became president of the Inter-American Development Bank.

Biography

Goldfajn was born in

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. He graduated in economics from the

Federal University of Rio de Janeiro The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro or University of Brazil (UFRJ; pt, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro or ') is a public research university located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest federal university in the ...

, received a master's degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro and a doctorate from

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

. He was appointed to the position of governor of the Central Bank of Brazil by

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

Henrique Meirelles on May 12, 2016. He oversaw the implementation of significant regulatory changes that opened the door to new players in the financial services industry, spurred innovation and digitalization, and fostered the growth of fintech companies, all of which bolstered Brazil’s financial sector. Goldfajn was chosen central banker of the year by

The Banker ''The Banker'' is an English-language monthly international financial affairs publication owned by ''The Financial Times'' Ltd. and edited in London, United Kingdom. The magazine was first published in January 1926 through founding Editor, Bren ...

magazine in 2017, and best central banker by Global Finance magazine in 2018. On September 13, 2021, he was appointed Director of the IMF's Western Hemisphere Department by Director-General

Kristalina Georgieva Kristalina Ivanova Georgieva-Kinova ( bg, Кристалина Иванова Георгиева-Кинова; ; born 13 August 1953) is a Bulgarian economist serving as managing director of the International Monetary Fund since 2019. She was t ...

, to assume office on January 3, 2022. He helped countries implement IMF-supported programs to address an array of challenges and also contributed to shaping the region’s policy dialogue on climate change, which led to the IMF’s first Resilience and Sustainability Facility. On November 20, 2022, he was elected president of the Inter-American Development Bank, assuming office on December 19 of the same year. Goldfajn's private-sector experience includes key positions at three of Brazil’s leading financial institutions: chief economist and partner at Itaú Unibanco, founding partner at Ciano Investimentos, and partner and economist at Gávea Investimentos. He also served as chairman of Credit Suisse Brazil’s Advisory Board. Goldfajn has also held several consultant roles at top international finance and governance institutions, including the World Bank, the United Nations and the IMF. He has taught economics at various universities in Brazil and the United States, has been an editor of several publications and has published numerous articles and books. Goldfajn speaks English, Portuguese, Spanish and Hebrew.

Bibliography

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References

, - 1966 births Brazilian economists Brazilian Jews Federal University of Rio de Janeiro alumni Living people Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni People from Haifa Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro alumni Presidents of the Central Bank of Brazil Presidents of the Inter-American Development Bank {{Brazil-economist-stub