Dr. Ilan Goldfajn
Inter-American Development Bank
President
Ilan Goldfajn was elected president of the IDB on November 20, 2022.
Mr. Goldfajn was Director of the Western Hemisphere Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2022, where he helped countries implement IMF-supported programs to address a series of unprecedented challenges. He also contributed to the region’s policy dialogue on climate change with the IMF and oversaw the institution’s first Resilience and Sustainability Facility. Previously, he worked as an economist at the IMF, from 1996 to 1999.
Mr. Goldfajn was Governor of the Central Bank of Brazil (BCB) from 2016 to 2019, and Director from 2000 to 2003. He led the BCB through an unprecedented period of declining inflation and interest rates in Brazil. He led the “BC+” structural agenda and oversaw changes that opened the door to new players in the financial services sector and drove innovation, digitalization, and the development of a widespread rapid payments system. All of this reinforced efficiency and increased inclusion in Brazil’s financial sector.
In 2017, he was voted “Central Banker of the Year” by The Banker magazine. The following year, Global Finance magazine named him “Best Central Banker.”
Mr. Goldfajn’s experience in the private sector includes key positions in financial institutions in Brazil: chief economist and partner of Itaú Unibanco, founding partner of Ciano Investimentos, partner and economist of Gávea Investimentos and president of the Advisory Board of Credit Suisse Brazil. He has also held various consulting roles in leading public institutions, such as the World Bank, the United Nations and the IMF.
Likewise, he has an extensive academic career. He has taught economics classes at universities in Brazil and the United States. He has worked as an editor for various publications, in addition to writing and publishing numerous articles and books. Mr. Goldfajn holds a PhD in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a master’s degree in Economics from the Pontifical Catholic University, and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Federal University, both in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Mr. Goldfajn is fluent in English, Portuguese, Spanish and Hebrew. He assumed his position at the IDB on December 19, 2022.