Noble work: Goldfajn (left), a former president of Brazil’s central bank, is the current Western Hemisphere director of the IMF. In his new role at the IDB, he plans to fight inequality and improve the production and supply of food, among other things. — AP
WASHINGTON: Government officials from Latin America, the Caribbean and the United States chose Brazil’s Ilan Goldfajn to become the next chief of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a key financial institution for the region and one of its most coveted jobs.
Goldfajn, 56, the current Western Hemisphere director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), was elected for a five-year term during a meeting of finance ministers and other officials of member nations on Sunday, with most participating virtually from capitals across the Americas, the IDB said in a statement.
The election came after Argentina withdrew its candidate to support Goldfajn, according to people familiar with the proceedings, who asked not to be identified because the discussions were private.
An Argentine official said that the nation worked out a deal to have Argentines in several high-ranking positions at the bank, including one of its vice-presidents and negotiated with the US, Canada and Brazil to give Goldfajn the majority.
Goldfajn received 80% of the vote, compared with 9.9% for Chile’s Nicolas Eyzaguirre, 8.2% for Mexico’s Gerardo Esquivel and 1.6% for Gerard Johnson of Trinidad and Tobago, according to the people.
Goldfajn also received backing from 17 governments, more than the 15 needed to win, out of a group of 28 nations that includes the bank’s regional borrowers, plus the US and Canada.
Support from President Joe Biden’s administration was critical, with the US controlling 30% of the bank’s voting shares, almost triple the amount of second-place Brazil and Argentina.
The IDB is an important lender in the region for countries that borrowed more than US$23bil (RM104.7bil) last year. It was also key to the response to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, when Latin America was one of the hardest-hit areas of the world.
The election caps a turbulent era for the bank, with nations in September removing president Mauricio Claver-Carone after a probe found that he probably broke ethics rules in a romantic relationship with a top aide.
In an interview last week, Goldfajn, a former Brazilian central bank chief whose resume also includes time as chief economist of Itau Unibanco Holding SA and chairman of Credit Suisse Group AG in Brazil, said the IDB needs to overcome the region’s historic left-right political conflicts to address challenges from poverty to climate change.
Goldfajn said his priorities for the institution will be fighting inequality and improving the production and supply of food, building nations’ resilience to climate change shocks, helping fossil-fuel producers responsibly transition to renewable fuels and investing in physical and digital infrastructure to attract private capital and innovation.
Goldfajn’s nomination was scrutinised because it came from the government of right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, who leaves office in six weeks.
Members of leftist President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s transition team sought unsuccessfully to delay the IDB vote until January so the incoming leader could have a say regarding Brazil’s candidate and vote. — Bloomberg
