the brazilian economist Ilan Goldfajn was elected this Sunday as the new president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) during an Extraordinary Meeting of the Board of Governors of the entity held in Washington, with the virtual and face-to-face assistance of the delegations, according to the agency in a statement.
The IDB highlighted that “Goldfajn will handle the operations and administration of the bank, which works with the public sector in Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition, he will chair the Board of Executive Directors of the IDB and the Executive Board of IDB Invest, which works with the private sector in the region.”
The head of the lending agency also chairs the Donors Committee of IDB Lab, the laboratory for innovative development projects.
The election took place this Sunday morning in Washington, through the Assembly of Governors made up of the Treasury and Finance Ministers of all the member states, which met virtually.
The candidates who participated in the compulsa were Ilan Goldfajn (Brazil), Gerardo Esquivel (Mexico), Nicolás Eyzaguirre (Chile), Gerard Johnson (Trinidad and Tobago) and Argentina Cecilia Todesca BoccoVice Minister of International Economic Relations of the Foreign Ministry.
Our president-elect, @igoldfajn and the president of the Board of Governors, @NigelClarkeJathey set the start date of his functions as president for December 19, 2022. pic.twitter.com/MrFbOgspAM
— Inter-American Development Bank (@el_BID) November 20, 2022
Todesca Bocco met with Goldfajn, congratulating him on his election to preside over the organization and stressed that Argentina will lead the Vice Presidency of Sectors and Knowledge, as well as the Infrastructure and Energy Management of the new Institute for Gender and Equality, which will be one of the new management axes of the IDB. This Institute is one of the strategic issues that Argentina presented in its candidacy for the presidency of the IDB, according to her, she expressed in a statement.
“After a day of many negotiations and after many years without participating in the management of the Bank, the agreement reached between authorities from the United States, Canada, Brazil and Argentina built a winning majority to give the IDB a new institutional framework and leadership”, Official sources told Télam.
Goldfajn received 80% of the votes, compared to 9.9% for Chile’s Nicolás Eyzaguirre, 8.2% for Mexico’s Gerardo Esquivel and 1.6% for Trinidad and Tobago’s Gerard Johnson, according to the people. Goldfajn also received the backing of 17 governments, more than the 15 needed to win, from a group of 28 nations that includes the bank’s regional borrowers plus the US and Canada.
The support of the administration of the president Joe Biden It was pivotal, with the United States controlling 30% of the bank’s voting shares, nearly triple the amount held by second-place Brazil and Argentina. The five candidates interviewed for the position with representatives of IDB member governments, giving presentations and answering questions, a week ago.
The IDB is the main source of financing for the development of Latin America and the Caribbean through loans, donations and technical assistance; and also conducts extensive research, prioritizing social inclusion and equality, productivity and innovation, and regional economic integration in its development work throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.
Goldfajn, former president of the Central Bank of Brazil and current director of the Department for the Western Hemisphere of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), was proposed by the president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, and his candidacy was validated by the president-elect, Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva.
The Brazilian economist said in an interview, that “the IDB needs to overcome the region’s historic left-right politics”.
Goldfajn said his priorities for the institution will be to “fight inequality and improve food production and supply; build the resilience of nations to the impacts of climate change and help fossil fuel producers make a responsible transition to renewable fuels; and investing in physical and digital infrastructure to attract private capital and innovation.
The new president of the IDB will replace the American Mauricio Claver-Carone, dismissed on September 26 by the Board of Governors, after an investigation concluded that he granted favorable treatment to a subordinate with whom he had a sentimental relationship.
To be elected president, a candidate must receive a majority of the total voting power of the IDB member countries, as well as the support of at least 15 of the 28 regional member countries (26 borrowing member countries, plus Canada and the United States). The IDB has a total of 48 member countries, with offices in all borrowing countries, as well as in Europe and Asia.
The Governing Board is the highest authority of the Bank. Each member country appoints a governor, whose voting power is proportional to the capital in the Bank subscribed by his country. Governors are usually finance ministers, central bank presidents, or other high-ranking economic authorities.
The Board of Governors holds annual meetings to review the Bank’s operations and make key policy decisions. It also occasionally holds special meetings, including to elect a president.
Goldfajn will be the seventh president of the IDB. They are followed by Reina Irene Mejía Chacón ai (2022); Mauricio Claver-Carone (2020-2022); Luis Alberto Moreno (2005-2020); Enrique V. Iglesias (1988-2005); Antonio Ortiz Mena (1971-1988); and Felipe Herrera (1960-1971).
