the brazilian Ilan Goldfajn will be the new president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), having obtained sufficient support from the organization’s Board of Governors.
Goldfajn, former Governor of the Central Bank of Brazil and until now head of the Western Hemisphere Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), will succeed the American of Cuban origin Mauricio Claver-Carone, expelled from the entity two months ago by a business love with a subordinate, whose salary was increased several times.
Ministers of finance and other economic authorities of the 48 countries that make up the IDB They gave their support to the Brazilian, by a large majority. Although the votes were not made public, as Efe learned, Goldfajn got at least 80% support members of the board of directors.
Through a statement, the IDB explained that the vote took place during a meeting held at bank headquarters in Washingtonwith the virtual or face-to-face assistance of the delegations.
Goldfajn and the Assembly have set the start date for his term of office as December 19. There will be a “transition period” during which the current president, Honduran Queen Irene Mejíawho replaces Claver-Carone since his exclusion from the establishment.
It had already been made public this morning that he was the favourite, after Argentina will announce the withdrawal of its candidate, Cecilia Todescaand his support for the Brazilian in a coalition also formed by the United States and Canada.
Goldfajn, Bolsonaro’s candidate
He was one of the first candidates to be proposed and, although he started out as a favorite, his nomination – in the hands of Jair Bolsonaro– was overshadowed by statements by former Brazilian Minister Guido Mantega, who is part of the transition process from elected president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
“I’m not saying he’s a bad candidate, but Bolsonaro tried to stage another coup, create a fait accompli and appoint an IDB president the wrong way. They didn’t go to negotiate with Argentina, Peru, Colombia or Uruguay. They have just presented a candidate, “said the former minister, who even acknowledged attempts to postpone the election.
Even so, Goldfajn has always maintained his political impartiality and assured that he had the support of the country, despite the fact that Lula da Silva did not give it to him publicly. “I can assure you that everyone to whom I showed my proposal in Brazil supports me and that there is no one who opposes it”, he stressed a few days ago during a public event.
After Todesca’s withdrawal, they were three candidates who fought with the Brazilian: the former Minister of Finance and Education of Chile Nicolás Eyzaguirre; Gerardo Esquivel, Vice Governor of the Bank of Mexico (Banxico), and Trinidad and Tobago Gerard Johnson, a former IDB official who now works as a consultant to Jamaica’s Ministry of Finance.
Goldfajn will assume the position for a period of five years and, as president, “he will manage the operations and administration of the Bank, which works with the public sector in Latin America and the Caribbean,” the IDB said. In addition, he will chair the Board of Directors of the IDB, the Board of Directors of IDB Invest (which works with the private sector in the region) and the Donor Committee of IDB Lab, the laboratory for development projects and innovation.
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