Mercedes Marcó del Pont (born 28 August 1957) is an Argentine economist and politician who was President of the

Central Bank of Argentina The Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (, BCRA) is the central bank of Argentina, being an autarchic entity. Article 3 of the Organic Charter lists the objectives of this Institution: “The bank aims to promote, to the extent of its powers ...

. She has also served as a member of the National Chamber of Deputies, as head of the Federal Public Income Administration, and as Secretary of Strategic Affairs in the Presidency of Argentina under Alberto Fernandez.

Early life and career

Mercedes Marcó del Pont was born and raised in Barrio Norte,

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

. The Marcó del Pont family first arrived in what today is Argentina in 1785 from

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, and became prominent in commerce.''La Nación'' (3/16/2008)
/ref> She took an interest in politics in her teens, and became affiliated with the centrist

Integration and Development Movement The Integration and Development Movement (, MID) is a Developmentalism, developmentalist list of political parties in Argentina, political party founded by Arturo Frondizi in Argentina. It is member of La Libertad Avanza. History Background Flyin ...

(MID), a party whose platform focused on support for

import substitution industrialization Import substitution industrialization (ISI) is a protectionist trade and economics, economic policy that advocates replacing foreign imports with domestic production. It is based on the premise that a country should attempt to reduce its foreign ...

and

foreign direct investment A foreign direct investment (FDI) is an ownership stake in a company, made by a foreign investor, company, or government from another country. More specifically, it describes a controlling ownership an asset in one country by an entity based i ...

. She enrolled at the

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires (, UBA) is a public university, public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the second-oldest university in the country, and the largest university of the country by enrollment. Established in 1821 ...

, and earned a degree in

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

in 1982. She joined CLACSO, the Latin American Social Sciences Council, in 1984, and was a

teaching assistant A teaching assistant (TA) or education assistant (EA) is an individual who assists a professor or teacher with instructional responsibilities. TAs include ''graduate teaching assistants'' (GTAs), who are graduate students; ''undergraduate teach ...

at her alma mater's School of Economics, and taught a specialized course in the discipline for members of the Sanitation Workers' Federation in 1985. She was accepted as a

Master's Degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

candidate at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

's Economic Growth Center, and earned her postgraduate in International and Development Economics in 1987. Returning to Argentina, she was a senior researcher for the Development Research Foundation (FIDE), a

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

founded by Octavio Frigerio (son of the late MID leader, Rogelio Julio Frigerio, and Marcó de Pont's cousin). She entered public service in 1989 as chief advisor on

petrochemical industry file:Jampilen Petrochemical Co. 02.jpg, 300px, Jampilen Petrochemical co., Asaluyeh, Iran The petrochemical industry is concerned with the production and trade of petrochemicals. A major part is constituted by the plastics industry, plastics (poly ...

policy for the Economy Ministry's Planning Secretariat, and following her departure, was named Director of FIDE in 1991. She served over the next decade as a consultant on statistics and investment incentive policies for the city of Buenos Aires, and for the provinces of

and

Misiones Misiones (, ''Missions'') is one of the 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by Paraguay to the northwest, Brazil to the north, east and south, and Corrientes P ...

. She authored a number of papers on the local effects of

globalization Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

, on the 1992

Brady Plan Brady bonds are dollar-denominated bonds, issued mostly by Latin American countries in the late 1980s. The bonds were named after United States Secretary of the Treasury Nicholas F. Brady, who proposed a novel debt-reduction agreement for deve ...

for foreign debt reduction, on the Convertibility Plan for exchange rate stabilization, and on the labor market, among other topics. Marcó del Pont was briefly chief policy advisor for Production Minister

José Ignacio de Mendiguren José Ignacio "Vasco" de Mendiguren (born 23 August 1950) is an Argentine industrialist and politician. He was chairman of the Argentine Industrial Union, director of the Bank of the Argentine Nation, National Bank of Argentina, and Ministry of P ...

(January to March 2002), and authored a book, ''Crisis y Reforma Económica'', in 2004.

Political career

Marcó del Pont was elected to the Lower House of Congress on the

Front for Victory The Front for Victory (, FPV) was a centre-left Peronist electoral alliance in Argentina, and is formally a faction of the Justicialist Party. Former presidents Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner were elected as representatives ...

(FPV) ticket in the 2005 mid-term elections. She seconded Education Minister

Daniel Filmus Daniel Fernando Filmus (; born June 3, 1955) is an Argentine politician and academic, who served as the country's Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, from 2021 to 2023. Filmus formerly served as a National Senator for the City of B ...

on the federal district's FPV

party list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can c ...

for elections to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

; in an otherwise banner year, the FPV was defeated in that race, however. A supporter of shaping

monetary policy Monetary policy is the policy adopted by the monetary authority of a nation to affect monetary and other financial conditions to accomplish broader objectives like high employment and price stability (normally interpreted as a low and stable rat ...

to advance economic and employment growth, in March 2008 she was named President of state-owned '' Banco Nación'', the largest

commercial bank A commercial bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make a profit. It can also refer to a bank or a division of a larger bank that deals with whol ...

in Argentina. Following controversy surrounding President

Cristina Kirchner Cristina is a female given name, and it is also a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Cristina (daughter of Edward the Exile), 11th-century English princess * Cristina (singer), Cristina Monet-Palaci (1956–2020), American ...

's decision to earmark

foreign exchange reserve Foreign exchange reserves (also called forex reserves or FX reserves) are cash and other reserve assets such as gold and silver held by a central bank or other monetary authority that are primarily available to balance payments of the country, ...

s to retire high-interest

government bond A government bond or sovereign bond is a form of Bond (finance), bond issued by a government to support government spending, public spending. It generally includes a commitment to pay periodic interest, called Coupon (finance), coupon payments' ...

s, and Central Bank President Martín Redrado's exit in January 2010, Marcó del Pont was named President of the

on February 3. Upon the election of

Alberto Fernández Alberto Ángel Fernández (; born 2 April 1959) is an Argentine politician, lawyer, and academic who served as President of Argentina from 2019 to 2023. He was also the Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers from 2003 to 2008. His tenure as Cabin ...

as President of Argentina in 2019, she was appointed as head of the

Administración Federal de Ingresos Públicos The Federal Administration of Public Income (, mostly known for its acronym AFIP) was the revenue service of Argentina. It administered taxation. The AFIP made a deal with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service to share information in 2017. It wa ...

, Argentina's federal tax administration. In 2022, she was appointed Secretary of Strategic Affairs in the Presidential Office, succeeding

Gustavo Béliz Gustavo Beliz (born 7 January 1962) is an Argentine politician and expert in global governance. Beliz was born in Buenos Aires. He graduated at Law from University of Buenos Aires and then studied at London School of Economics. He served during ...

Personal life

Marcó del Pont married Jorge Cafferata, a prominent local psychiatrist, and had three children.Diagnóstico Político: Mercedes Marcó del Pont
Teaching at the National University of Lomas de Zamora between 1999 and 2002, she joined developmentalist economist Aldo Ferrer and other University of Buenos Aires academics in Plan Fénix, which advocated a more balanced

References

External links

Argentine Central Bank
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marco Del Pont, Mercedes 1957 births Living people People from Buenos Aires Argentine people of Catalan descent University of Buenos Aires alumni Yale University alumni Argentine economists Argentine women economists 21st-century Argentine women politicians Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Buenos Aires Argentine deputies 2007–2009 Presidents of the Central Bank of Argentina Argentine deputies 2005–2007