Ilan Goldfajn elected as next president of Inter-American Development Bank

The board of the Inter-American Development Bank has picked Brazilian central banker Ilan Goldfajn as the institution’s next president.

He was elected on Nov. 20 during a special meeting of the bank’s board of governors, and takes up office on Dec. 19.

Goldfajn replaces former President Mauricio Claver-Carone, who was ousted in October following an ethics scandal.

Goldfajn is the current Western Hemisphere director at the International Monetary Fund and has previously served as president of Brazil’s central bank. In the private sector, Goldfajn has worked as chief economist at Itau Unibanco, and he has a Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In addition, Goldfajn will chair the donors committee of IDB Lab, which is the institution’s laboratory for development projects.

As president, he will be responsible for managing the operations and administration of the bank, and for chairing the IDB’s board of executive directors and the board of executive directors of the bank’s private sector arm IDB Invest. 

Earlier this month, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) announced a shortlist of five candidates being considered for the post of president.

To be elected president of IDB, a candidate must receive a majority of the total voting power of the IDB’s member countries as well as the support of at least 15 of the 28 regional member countries. The IDB has a total of 48 member countries.