WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The head of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has elected Brazil’s Ilan Goldfajn to head the financial institution after the first American, Mauricio · Mauricio Claver-Carone was removed for ethics violations, two sources told Reuters.
Five countries – Argentina, Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico, Brazil and Chile – have nominated candidates to lead the Inter-American Development Bank, Latin America’s largest development bank, after a tumultuous past A year that seriously damaged the morale of the agency.
Headquartered in Washington, IDB is a major investor in Latin America and the Caribbean responsible for $48
The ignominious ouster of Claver-Carone makes it more likely that the next candidate will come from Latin America, following previous precedent. Even so, Goldfajn will still be under pressure to work closely with the US, Europe and China, all of which are members and may wish to exert influence from a distance.
The IDB could become a battleground in the geopolitical battle over key financing decisions among its members as Latin America grapples with stubbornly high inflation and an economic slowdown.
Argentina nominated Cecilia Todesca Bocco, the country’s Secretary for International Economic Relations.
Mexico nominates its central bank deputy governor, Gerardo Esquivel, while Chile nominates its former finance minister, Nicolás Ezaguirre.
Brazil’s outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro nominated Goldfein, former head of the country’s central bank and now head of the IMF’s Western Hemisphere Department.
Trinidad and Tobago nominated Gerard Johnson, a former Inter-American Development Bank official who is now a Senior Advisor to the Jamaica Ministry of Finance, for this position.
Voting follows meeting of Inter-American Development Bank presidents, who are usually 48 members of the bank the country’s finance minister or other senior economic executive.
IDB shareholders have stressed the importance of rebuilding trust in the institution after Claver-Carone’s nearly two-year shaky tenure.
