Ignacio Briones Rojas (born 12 December 1972) is a Chilean economist, scholar and politician who served as

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

in the second government of

Sebastián Piñera Miguel Juan Sebastián Piñera Echenique OMCh (; born 1 December 1949) is a Chilean billionaire businessman and politician who served as president of Chile from 2010 to 2014 and again from 2018 to 2022. The son of a Christian Democratic polit ...

from 2019 until 2021. Prior to this appointment, Ignacio served as Dean of the School of Government of

Adolfo Ibáñez University The Adolfo Ibáñez University ( es, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez) (UAI) is a private research university in Santiago, Chile associated with the Adolfo Ibáñez Foundation. In 1988, in accordance with new educational legislation, a university was ...

Early life and education

Briones is a commercial engineer, a graduate in Economics, Master in Economics and Political Sciences from the

Pontificia Universidad Católica de 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 ...

and Doctor in Political Economy from the

Paris Institute of Political Studies , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , accreditation ...

Early career

Briones worked as a professor and researcher at the School of Government and the Business School of the

, focusing on areas such as Political Economy and Economic and Financial History. He has also been a consultant for the

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 ...

, the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

and companies such as

VTR A video tape recorder (VTR) is a tape recorder designed to record and playback video and audio material from magnetic tape. The early VTRs were open-reel devices that record on individual reels of 2-inch-wide (5.08 cm) tape. They were us ...

and the stock brokerage LarraínVial.

Political career

During the first government of

, Briones was the coordinator of International Finance of the Ministry of Finance, Director of Public Credit and Director of the Sovereign Funds of the Republic of Chile. In parallel, he was appointed as Executive Director of the Financial Stability Council, representative of Chile to the

G20 The G20 or Group of Twenty is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union (EU). It works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stability, climate change mitigation, ...

in 2012 and Chilean Ambassador to the

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries ...

(OECD) during the period 2013–2014. On October 28, 2019, Briones was appointed Minister of Finance, replacing Felipe Larraín in the second term of Sebastián Piñera, as part of a

cabinet reshuffle A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle occurs when a head of government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in their cabinet, or when the Head of State changes the head of government and a number of ministers. They are more common in parlia ...

after the

2019 protests Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * 19 (film), ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * Nineteen (film), ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 sci ...

which Chile experienced due to the perception of social policies promoted by successive governments since the return to democracy in 1990 and social inequality. During his time in office, he spearheaded a $28 billion package of government aid to combat the economic effects of the

COVID-19 pandemic in Chile The worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 () severely affected Chile. The virus was confirmed to have reached Chile on 3 March 2020. Initial cases had been imported from Sou ...

, which included income support for the poor and subsidies for job creation. By mid-2020, opinion polls showed him to be the most popular member of the cabinet after

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

Enrique Paris Oscar Enrique Paris Mancilla (born 3 September 1948) is a Chilean physician and politician who served as Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health ...

. In 2021, Briones stepped down from his government post and was replaced by Rodrigo Cerda. In 2021, Briones ran to be the presidential candidate of Chilevamos on the primary election under the wing of Evópoli, a conservative-liberal and centre-right party. He lost to Sebastian Sichel

Other activities

Inter-American Investment Corporation The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB or IADB) is an International financial institutions, international financial institution headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States of America, and serving as the largest source of development finan ...

(IIC), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2019–2021) *

Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) is an international financial institution which offers political risk insurance and credit enhancement guarantees. These guarantees help investors protect foreign direct investments against ...

(MIGA),

World Bank Group The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and best-known development bank in the world and an observer at the United Nations Development Grou ...

, Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2019–2021) *

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 ...

, Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2019–2021)

Trivia

Under the pseudonym Eugenio de la Cruz, Briones was a relentless gastronomic critic of the defunct magazine Cosas, for many years. They say that while he was studying in Paris, together with his friend Jorge Ferrando, “they got bitten” by restaurant critics.

Football

He is supporter of

Colo-Colo Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo () is a Chilean professional football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano they play in the Chilean Primera División, from which they have never been relegated. The team has played ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Briones, Ignacio Living people 1972 births Chilean Ministers of Finance 21st-century Chilean economists Evópoli politicians