Discussion on economic prospects will bring together leading IDB and IMF authorities in Paraguay

Asuncion, IP Agency.– The Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) is organizing the discussion entitled “Economic Perspectives: Talking with Kristalina Georgieva and Ilan Goldfajn”, to be held next Tuesday, July 23, starting at 10:30 a.m., in the Convention Hall of the Central Bank of Paraguay (BCP).

This event is organized jointly with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Banca Matriz.

This discussion will bring together world-class figures such as Georgieva, who is the Managing Director of the IMF, and Goldfajn, President of the IDB, to analyze the progress of the national economy in a regional and global context.

Kristalina Georgieva has been Managing Director of the IMF since October 1, 2019. Prior to joining the IMF, she was Managing Director of the World Bank from January 2017 to September 2019, during which time she also served as Acting President of the World Bank Group for three months.

She began her civil service career at the World Bank as an environmental economist in 1993. After working at the institution for 17 years and holding many senior positions including Director of Sustainable Development, Director representing the Russian Federation, Director of Environment, and Director of Environment and Social Development in the East Asia and Pacific Regional Office, her career culminated with her appointment as Vice President and Secretary in 2008. In this role, she acted as an interlocutor between World Bank Group management, its Board of Executive Directors, and shareholder countries.

Ilan Goldfajn was elected President of the IDB on November 20, 2022. He served as 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 range 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.

He was also 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. 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.”