Pérsio Arida (born 1 March 1952 in

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

) is a Brazilian

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

and a former president of the

Central Bank of Brazil The Central Bank of Brazil (, ) is Brazil's central bank, the bank is autonomous in exercising its functions, and its main objective is to achieve stability in the purchasing power of the national currency. It was established on Thursday, 31 Dece ...

. He has a bachelor's degree in economics from

University of São Paulo The Universidade de São Paulo (, USP) is a public research university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, and the largest public university in Brazil. The university was founded on 25 January 1934, regrouping already existing schools in ...

and a Ph.D. in economics from

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

. He has served the Brazilian government by taking part in the crafting of the

Plano Real The Plano Real (" Real Plan",The word ''real'' in Portuguese could be translated either to ''real'' or ''royal'' in English. The name of the plan comes from the name of the currency which was chosen to give the idea of a stable and credible p ...

; more specifically, he was one of the creators of the

Unidade Real de Valor The Daily Unidade Real de Valor, or URV (Portuguese, ''Real Value Unit''), was a non-monetary reference currency (i.e., non-fiat) created in March 1994, as part of the Plano Real in Brazil. It was the most theoretically sophisticated piece of the ...

, a non-monetary currency and the most sophisticated and theoretical piece of the

. In 1995, he served as the president of the

and Special Secretary of Social-Economic Coordination, Ministry of Planning. In the private sector, he was a board member of Banco Itaú Holding Financeira S.A. and Banco Itaú S.A., board member of Sul-América S.A, director of Opportunity Asset Management Ltda., board member of Unibanco S.A. and special adviser for the presidency and director of Brasil Warrant Ltd. Since the 1970s, he has also worked as an economic and financial consultant. , he is working as a member of the executive council of the

Moreira Salles Institute The Moreira Salles Institute (, IMS) is a Brazilian nonprofit organization founded by diplomat and banker Walter Moreira Salles in 1992, with the establishment of its first cultural center in the city of Poços de Caldas, Minas Gerais. Later, the ...

. He is also a member of the International Advisory Board at the

Blavatnik School of Government The Blavatnik School of Government is the school of public policy of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. The School was founded in 2010 following a £75 million donation from business magnate Len Blavatnik, supported by £26 million fro ...

(University of Oxford) and a member of the Academic Board o
Livres
Personally, he is also a fan of classical music.

Selected publications

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References

, - 1952 births Living people 20th-century Brazilian economists Presidents of the Central Bank of Brazil Classical liberal economists 21st-century Brazilian economists {{Brazil-economist-stub