Azucena María Arbeleche Perdomo (born 29 September 1970) is a
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
an economist and civil servant who serves as
Minister of Economy and Finance of Uruguay since March 1, 2020 under president
Luis Lacalle Pou
Luis Alberto Aparicio Alejandro Lacalle Pou (; ''Luis Lacalle'' locally or ; born 10 August 1973) is a Uruguayan politician and lawyer serving as President of Uruguay since 1 March 2020.
Son of former president Luis Alberto Lacalle, Lacalle ...
, being the first woman to hold that office.
Early life and education
Azucena María Arbeleche Perdomo was born in 1970, the daughter of Beltrán José Arbeleche and Theresita Perdomo. She attended
The British Schools of Montevideo
The British Schools of Montevideo is a private, coeducational, non-profit school, which aims to give an intensive bilingual education, combining the Uruguayan national curriculum with an English language program.
Educational programs and gover ...
, and in 1996 graduated from the
University of the Republic
The University of the Republic ( es, Universidad de la República, sometimes ''UdelaR'') is Uruguay's oldest public university. It is by far the country's largest university, as well as the second largest public university in South America and t ...
with a degree in economics.
She also obtained a master's degree in applied macroeconomics from the
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile
The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (''PUC or UC Chile'') ( es, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile) is one of the six Catholic Universities existing in the Chilean university system and one of the two pontifical universities i ...
.
Career
While she was in her fourth year of college, she worked for the
Office of Planning and Budget
The Office of Planning and Budget (OPP) ( es, Oficina de Planeamiento y Presupuesto) is a dependency of the Presidency of Uruguay that is responsible for advising the Politics of Uruguay, Executive Power in the formulation of national and depart ...
.
From March 1995 to December 1996, she served as a collaborator at BGV Corredores de Bolsa, and from 1998 to 2000 at the Center for Economic and Financial Research in
Santiago
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...
.
In 2001 she joined the Macroeconomic Advisory of the
Ministry of Economy and Finance, at the request of her former professor ant then minister
Isaac Alfie.
In that position, she participated in the design and implementation of measures against the
2002 crisis, and in the restructuring process of the total
government debt
A country's gross government debt (also called public debt, or sovereign debt) is the financial liabilities of the government sector. Changes in government debt over time reflect primarily borrowing due to past government deficits. A deficit oc ...
in May 2003.
From 2005 to 2010, she served as an advisor to the Debt Management Unit of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, at the request of then-minister
Danilo Astori
Danilo Ángel Astori Saragosa (born April 23, 1940) is a Uruguayan retired social democratic politician who served as the 15th vice president of Uruguay from 2010 to 2015 under President José Mujica. A member of Uruguay Assembly– Broad Front, ...
.
She was its head from 2011 to 2014, when she resigned to join the presidential campaign of
Luis Lacalle Pou
Luis Alberto Aparicio Alejandro Lacalle Pou (; ''Luis Lacalle'' locally or ; born 10 August 1973) is a Uruguayan politician and lawyer serving as President of Uruguay since 1 March 2020.
Son of former president Luis Alberto Lacalle, Lacalle ...
as economic adviser.
Between 2015 and 2019 she dedicated herself to carrying out independent consultancies in debt management abroad through the
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...
, the
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
and the
Plata Basin Financial Development Fund.
She also held the position of director of the Center for Studies of the
National Party.
Arbeleche was a professor at institutions such as the University of the Republic, the
Catholic University of Uruguay
Catholic University of Uruguay (in Spanish: Universidad Católica del Uruguay, acronym UCU) is a private university in Uruguay opened in 1985 (from various previous Catholic teaching institutions). It was the only private university in the count ...
,
Andrés Bello National University
The Andrés Bello National University ( es, Universidad Andrés Bello or Universidad Nacional Andrés Bello :es:Universidad Andrés Bello) (UNAB) is a Chilean private university established in 1988.
UNAB is ranked 56th of Latin American unive ...
and the
University of Montevideo
The Universidad de Montevideo (in English: ''University of Montevideo'') is a private (catholic, Opus Dei) university located in Montevideo, Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Ur ...
.
A member of the
National Party, Arbeleche was in charge of economic issues for the presidential campaigns of
Luis Lacalle Pou
Luis Alberto Aparicio Alejandro Lacalle Pou (; ''Luis Lacalle'' locally or ; born 10 August 1973) is a Uruguayan politician and lawyer serving as President of Uruguay since 1 March 2020.
Son of former president Luis Alberto Lacalle, Lacalle ...
in 2014 and 2019. On December 16, 2019, she was formally announced by the president-elect Lacalle Pou as head of the
Ministry of Economy and Finance, becoming on March 1, 2020 the first woman to hold the position. During the process of reactivating the Uruguayan economy as a result of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, Arbeleche expressed her admiration for
Keynesian economics
Keynesian economics ( ; sometimes Keynesianism, named after British economist John Maynard Keynes) are the various macroeconomic theories and models of how aggregate demand (total spending in the economy) strongly influences economic output an ...
.
Other activities
*
Inter-American Development Bank
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB or IADB) is an international financial institution headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States of America, and serving as the largest source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribb ...
(IDB), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (since 2020)
Personal life
With her husband Juan Alzugaray, Arbeleche has two sons born in
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
and a daughter born in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. She is a
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
and has done social work as a catechist and teacher in slums.
In 2014 she was featured on the cover of the magazine ''Seis Grados'' of the newspaper ''
El Observador''.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arbeleche, Azucena
1970 births
20th-century economists
21st-century economists
Living people
National Party (Uruguay) politicians
Ministers of Economics and Finance of Uruguay
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile alumni
Academic staff of the Catholic University of Uruguay
University of the Republic (Uruguay) alumni
Academic staff of the University of the Republic (Uruguay)
Academic staff of the University of Montevideo
Uruguayan economists
Uruguayan educators
Uruguayan Roman Catholics
Uruguayan women educators
Female finance ministers
Uruguayan civil servants
Uruguayan women civil servants
Uruguayan women economists
People educated at The British Schools of Montevideo