Carlos Rafael Fernández (born 1954) is an Argentine economist and was, from April 2008 to July 2009, the Minister of the Economy of the country.

Biography

Fernández was born in La Plata,

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, in 1954, and was raised in nearby

City Bell City Bell is a town located in La Plata Partido, Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is located some 10 kilometers from the city center. It forms part of the Greater La Plata urban agglomeration. The earliest settlement in City Bell was founded around 1 ...

. Enrolling at the prestigious

University of La Plata The La Plata National University ( es, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, UNLP) is one of the most important Argentine national universities and the biggest one situated in the city of La Plata, capital of Buenos Aires Province. It has over 90 ...

, he received a degree in economics in 1979, specializing in

public administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit est ...

. Affiliated to the populist Justicialist Party, the new administration of Carlos Menem appointed him Director of National Budget Policy for Provincial Spending. Remaining in the post during the difficult transition of numerous important federal programs to provincial budgets, Fernández was appointed Undersecretary of Budgetary Policy for the

Province of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...

, Argentina's largest, in 1997 by Governor

Eduardo Duhalde Eduardo Alberto Duhalde (; born 5 October 1941) is an Argentine Peronist politician who served as the interim President of Argentina from January 2002 to May 2003. He also served as Vice President and Governor of Buenos Aires in the 1990s. B ...

.Ecolink: Carlos Fernández
/ref> Following the May 2003 election of Governor

Néstor Kirchner Néstor Carlos Kirchner (; 25 February 195027 October 2010) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 2003 to 2007, Governor of Santa Cruz Province from 1991 to 2003, Secretary General of UNASUR and ...

as President, Fernández was named Secretary for Provincial Relations, the President's chief liaison with the nation's

Governors A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, remaining in the post until May 2006 to fill a vacancy in the Domestic Economy Secretariat (an important post in the Economy Ministry). Tapped as Economy Minister of the Province of Buenos Aires by Governor

Felipe Solá Felipe Solá (born 23 July 1950) is an Argentine agricultural engineer and politician. He previously served as Governor of Buenos Aires Province, from 2002 to 2007, and as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship under President Alberto Fernánd ...

in March 2007, he was returned to the President's office as Budget Director on

Cristina Kirchner Cristina is a female given name, and it is also a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Cristina (daughter of Edward the Exile), 11th-century English princess *Cristina (singer), Cristina Monet-Palaci (1956–2020), American s ...

's inauguration in December of that year. A conflict between the

National Customs ''National Customs'' () is a 1935 Chinese film directed by Luo Mingyou and Zhu Shilin. The film was silent film star Ruan Lingyu's last performance before she died in 1935. This film is a propaganda film promoting the New Life Movement, which w ...

Administrator, Ricardo Echegaray, and the head of the National Revenue Bureau, Alberto Abad, led to the dismissal of both and to Fernández's appointment on March 18, 2008 as National Revenue chief. Following the

2008 Argentine government conflict with the agricultural sector The 2008 Argentine agrarian strike refers to the conflict between the Argentine national government and the 4 entities that represented the agriculture sector. The crisis began in March 2008 with four agricultural sector employers organizations tak ...

, touched off by a proposed increase in export taxes, the economist's non-confrontational style helped lead to his April 25 replacement of the less conciliatory

Martín Lousteau Martín Lousteau (born 8 December 1970) is an Argentine economist and politician of the Radical Civic Union. He is National Senator for Buenos Aires. He was Minister of Economy under the administration of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, from D ...

as Minister of the Economy. The ruling

Front for Victory The Front for Victory ( es, Frente para la Victoria, FPV) was a centre-left Peronist electoral alliance in Argentina, and is formally a faction of the Justicialist Party. Former presidents Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner we ...

's defeat in the June 28, 2009, mid-term elections led to a cabinet reshuffle, and Fernández tendered his resignation to the President, effective July 7. He was replaced by Amado Boudou, Director of the National Social Security Administration (ANSeS).''Clarín''
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez, Carlos Rafael 1954 births Living people Argentine Ministers of Finance People from La Plata National University of La Plata alumni Argentine people of Spanish descent Justicialist Party politicians