On January 12, during his inaugural address as president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Ilan Goldfajn laid out his vision for the bank’s priorities in Latin America and the Caribbean during his tenure. Goldfajn joins the institution at a challenging time, as impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have set countries in the region back decades in their fight against poverty. During his speech Goldfajn outlined institutional reforms that seek to modernize the bank to reduce bureaucracy and risk aversion, to focus on deploying new financial and technical tools, and help the region confront new challenges such as climate change and increasing social unrest.
The Georgetown Americas Institute welcomed Ilan Goldfajn for his first public address as IDB president. Goldfajn laid out his priorities, followed by a moderated conversation with Alejandro Werner, director of the Georgetown Americas Institute.
Read the event summary here.
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Ilan Goldfajn is president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Prior to this, Goldfajn served as director of the Western Hemisphere Department at the International Monetary Fund in 2022. He previously served as governor of the Banco Central do Brasil (BCB) from 2016 to 2019 and deputy governor from 2000 to 2003. He led the BCB in a period of unprecedented decline in inflation and interest rates in Brazil. Goldfajn’s private sector experience includes key positions at Brazil’s financial institutions: chief economist and partner of Itaú Unibanco, founding partner of Ciano Investimentos, partner and economist at Gávea Investimentos, and chairman of Credit Suisse Brazil’s Advisory Board. He has also had several roles as a consultant at top public sector institutions, including the World Bank, the United Nations, and the International Monetary Fund. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a master’s degree in economics from the Pontificia Universidade Católica, and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Universidade Federal, both in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Alejandro Werner (moderator) is the founding director of the Georgetown Americas Institute and a non-resident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute. He recently completed almost nine years as director of the Western Hemisphere Department at the International Monetary Fund. Prior to that appointment, he was undersecretary of finance and public credit in Mexico’s Finance Ministry and held several positions in that ministry and the Central Bank. He also taught at leading universities in Mexico, Spain, and the United States. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.A. in economics from ITAM.