Marcia De Wachter (born

Wilrijk Wilrijk (; former, original spelling: ''Wilrijck'') is a district of the municipality and city of Antwerp in the Belgian province of Antwerp. Wilrijk had been a separate municipality before January 1, 1983; the enlarged municipality of Antwerp was ...

, 9 October 1953) is a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

economist who is a Director of the

National Bank of Belgium The National Bank of Belgium (NBB; nl, Nationale Bank van België, french: Banque nationale de Belgique, german: Belgische Nationalbank) has been the central bank of Belgium since 1850. The National Bank of Belgium was established with 100% pr ...

(NBB). She was appointed Director (Honorary Vice-Governor) of the NBB on 1 March 1999 for a first term of 6 years, which was renewed on 1 March 2005 for a second term of six years. She is an advisor of the

Itinera Institute The Itinera Institute is a Brussels-based independent think-tank that undertakes research that “identifies and promotes roads for policy reform towards sustained economic growth and social protection, for Belgium and its regions.” It was found ...

. Marcia De Wachter is married to Leo Steenbergen, CFO of

Telenet Telenet was an American commercial packet-switched network which went into service in 1975. It was the first FCC-licensed public data network in the United States. Various commercial and government interests paid monthly fees for dedicated lines ...

Education

She graduated in Applied Economics at the

University of Antwerp The University of Antwerp ( nl, Universiteit Antwerpen) is a major Belgian university located in the city of Antwerp. The official abbreviation is ''UA'', but ''UAntwerpen'' is more recently used. The University of Antwerp has about 20,000 stud ...

(Universitaire Faculteiten St.-Ignatius Antwerpen – UFSIA) in 1975. In 1979, she obtained a Master of Arts in Economics at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

and a PhD in Applied Economics at the UFSIA in 1983.

Career

In October 1975, she started her career as a scientific assistant at the UFSIA until September 1977. From October 1979 until July 1988 she worked as a scientific assistant at UFSIA-SESO. From April 1984 until July 1985, she worked as scientific assistant at the

Universiteit van Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

(UvA). From 1984 until July 1988 she was part-time lecturer at UFSIA. From March 1986 until June 1988 Marcia De Wachter was Economic Advisor in the Socio-economic Cabinet of Belgian Prime Minister

Wilfried Martens Wilfried Achiel Emma Martens (; 19 April 1936 – 9 October 2013) was a Belgian politician who served as prime minister of Belgium from 1979 to 1981 and from 1981 to 1992. A member of the Flemish Christian People's Party, during his premiership ...

and Coordinator from July 1988 until March 1990. She started her career at the NBB in April 1990, where she would be Spokesperson for the National Bank of Belgium until February 1994. From January 1991 until October 1996, she acted as Department Advisor at the Cabinet of

Alfons Verplaetse Alfons "Fons" Remi Emiel, Viscount Verplaetse (19 February 1930 – 15 October 2020) was a Belgian economist who served as Governor of the National Bank of Belgium (NBB) from 1989 until 1999. He was one of the architects of the devaluation of the ...

Governor of the NBB after which she became Secretary-General of the Bank from 1 November 1996 until 26 February 1999. On 1 March 1999 she became Vice-Governor of the NBB which she would remain until 3 August 2003. On 4 August 2003, she became Honorary Vice-Governor of the NBB. In 2003 she was Belgium's candidate for a place on the board of the

European Central Bank The European Central Bank (ECB) is the prime component of the monetary Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) as well as one of seven institutions of the European Union. It is one of the world's Big Four (banking)#Intern ...

, but was not selected. De Wachter was the author of an influential 2007 report into the state of the Belgian economy, of which she is an advocate of liberalisation, especially in the ICT sector.

Awards

* 1970: Stichting Socutera Prize * 1975: E. Casteleyn and Cl. Jussiant Prize awarded by the Belgian Chamber of Commerce * 1977: Fellowship of the

Belgian American Educational Foundation The Belgian American Educational Foundation (BAEF) is an educational charity. It supports the exchange of university students, scientists and scholars between the United States and Belgium. The foundation fosters the higher education of deserving ...

* 1979: Hillman Award of the University of Chicago * 1981: Stichting Randstad Prize * 2002: Alumnus of the Year Award UFSIA 2002 on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of UFSIA

References

External links

Marcia De Wachter

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wachter, Marcia De 1953 births Belgian civil servants Businesspeople from Antwerp Living people University of Antwerp alumni People from Wilrijk