Mercedes Marcó del Pont (born 28 August 1957) is an Argentine economist and politician who was President of the Central Bank of Argentina. She has also served as a member of the National Chamber of Deputies, as head of the Federal Public Income Administration, and currently as Secretary of Strategic Affairs in the Presidency of Argentina.

Early life and career

Mercedes Marcó del Pont was born and raised in Barrio Norte,

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

. The Marcó del Pont family first arrived in what today is Argentina in 1785 from

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

, and became prominent in commerce.''La Nación'' (3/16/2008)
/ref> She took an interest in politics in her teens, and became affiliated with the centrist

Integration and Development Movement The Integration and Development Movement ( es, Movimiento de Integración y Desarrollo, MID) is a developmentalist political party founded by Arturo Frondizi in Argentina. It is member of Juntos por el Cambio. History Background Flying to Caraca ...

(MID), a party whose platform focused on support for

import substitution industrialization Import substitution industrialization (ISI) is a trade and economic policy that advocates replacing foreign imports with domestic production.''A Comprehensive Dictionary of Economics'' p.88, ed. Nelson Brian 2009. It is based on the premise that ...

and foreign direct investment. She enrolled at the

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires ( es, Universidad de Buenos Aires, UBA) is a public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Established in 1821, it is the premier institution of higher learning in the country and one of the most prestigi ...

, and earned a degree in

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

in 1982. She joined CLACSO, the Latin American Social Sciences Council, in 1984, and was a

teaching assistant A teaching assistant or teacher's aide (TA) or education assistant (EA) or team teacher (TT) is an individual who assists a teacher with instructional responsibilities. TAs include ''graduate teaching assistants'' (GTAs), who are graduate stude ...

at her alma mater's School of Economics, and taught a specialized course in the discipline for members of the Sanitation Workers' Federation in 1985. She was accepted as a

Master's Degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

candidate at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

's Economic Growth Center, and earned her postgraduate in International and Development Economics in 1987. Returning to Argentina, she was a senior researcher for the Development Research Foundation (FIDE), a

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

founded by Octavio Frigerio (son of the late MID leader,

Rogelio Julio Frigerio Rogelio Julio Frigerio (November 2, 1914 – September 13, 2006) was an Argentine economist, journalist and politician. Background and early career Rogelio Frigerio was born in Buenos Aires in 1914 to Gerónimo Frigerio, an Italian immigra ...

, and Marcó de Pont's cousin). She entered public service in 1989 as chief advisor on

petrochemical industry The petrochemical industry is concerned with the production and trade of petrochemicals. A major part is constituted by the plastics (polymer) industry. It directly interfaces with the petroleum industry, especially the downstream sector. Comp ...

policy for the Economy Ministry's Planning Secretariat, and following her departure, was named Director of FIDE in 1991. She served over the next decade as a consultant on statistics and investment incentive policies for the city of Buenos Aires, and for the provinces of

and

Misiones Misiones (, ''Missions'') is one of the 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by Paraguay to the northwest, Brazil to the north, east and south, and Corrientes P ...

. She authored a number of papers on the local effects of

globalization Globalization, or globalisation (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), see spelling differences), is the process of foreign relation ...

, on the 1992

Brady Plan Brady bonds are dollar-denominated bonds, issued mostly by Latin American countries in the late 1980s. The bonds were named after U.S. Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady, who proposed a novel debt-reduction agreement for developing countries. ...

for

foreign debt A country's gross external debt (or foreign debt) is the liabilities that are owed to nonresidents by residents. The debtors can be governments, corporations or citizens. External debt may be denominated in domestic or foreign currency. It incl ...

reduction, on the Convertibility Plan for exchange rate stabilization, and on the labor market, among other topics. Marcó del Pont was briefly chief policy advisor for Production Minister

José Ignacio de Mendiguren José Ignacio "Vasco" de Mendiguren (born 23 August 1950) is an Argentine industrialist and politician. He was chairman of the Argentine Industrial Union, director of the National Bank of Argentina, and Minister of Production during the presiden ...

(January to March 2002), and authored a book, ''Crisis y Reforma Económica'', in 2004.

Political career

Marcó del Pont was elected to the Lower House of Congress on the

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 ...

(FPV) ticket in the 2005 mid-term elections. She seconded Education Minister

Daniel Filmus Daniel Fernando Filmus (; born June 3, 1955) is an Argentine politician and academic, currently serving as the country's Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, since 2021. Filmus formerly served as a National Senator for the City of Bu ...

on the federal district's FPV party list for elections to the Senate in 2007; in an otherwise banner year, the FPV was defeated in that race, however. A supporter of shaping

monetary policy Monetary policy is the policy adopted by the monetary authority of a nation to control either the interest rate payable for very short-term borrowing (borrowing by banks from each other to meet their short-term needs) or the money supply, often a ...

to advance economic and employment growth, in March 2008 she was named President of state-owned ''

Banco Nación Banco may refer to: Places * Banc (Barcelona Metro), also called Banco, a closed metro stop on the Barcelona metro * Banco, Virginia, an unincorporated community * Banco, West Virginia, an unincorporated community * Banco National Park, a nation ...

'', the largest

commercial bank A commercial bank is a financial institution which accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make profit. It can also refer to a bank, or a division of a large bank, which deals with co ...

in Argentina. Following controversy surrounding President

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 decision to earmark

foreign exchange reserve Foreign exchange reserves (also called forex reserves or FX reserves) are cash and other reserve assets such as gold held by a central bank or other monetary authority that are primarily available to balance payments of the country, influence ...

s to retire high-interest

government bond A government bond or sovereign bond is a form of bond issued by a government to support public spending. It generally includes a commitment to pay periodic interest, called coupon payments'','' and to repay the face value on the maturity dat ...

s, and Central Bank President

Martín Redrado Hernán Martín Pérez Redrado (born September 10, 1961) is an Argentine economist. He served as President of the Central Bank between 2004 and 2010. Early life and career Born Hernán Martín Pérez Redrado in Buenos Aires in 1961, he enrolled ...

's exit in January 2010, Marcó del Pont was named President of the Central Bank of Argentina on February 3. Upon the election of

Alberto Fernández Alberto Ángel Fernández (; born 2 April 1959) is an Argentine politician, lawyer and professor, serving as president of Argentina since 2019. Born in Buenos Aires, Fernández attended the University of Buenos Aires, where he earned his law ...

as President of Argentina in 2019, she was appointed as head of the

Administración Federal de Ingresos Públicos The Administración Federal de Ingresos Públicos ( es, Federal Administration of Public Income), usually shortened as AFIP is the revenue service of Argentina. It administers taxation in Argentina. The AFIP made a deal with the American IRS ...

, Argentina's federal tax administration. In 2022, she was appointed Secretary of Strategic Affairs in the Presidential Office, succeeding Gustavo Béliz.

Personal life

Marcó del Pont married Jorge Cafferata, a prominent local psychiatrist, and had three children.Diagnóstico Político: Mercedes Marcó del Pont
Teaching at the National University of Lomas de Zamora between 1999 and 2002, she joined developmentalist economist

Aldo Ferrer Aldo Ferrer (April 15, 1927 – March 8, 2016) was an Argentine economist. He was one of the leading proponents of economic nationalism in Argentina. Early career Aldo Ferrer was born in Buenos Aires in 1927, and enrolled at the University of Bu ...

and other University of Buenos Aires academics in Plan Fénix, which advocated a more balanced

References

External links

Argentine Central Bank
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marco Del Pont, Mercedes 1957 births Living people People from Buenos Aires Argentine people of Catalan descent University of Buenos Aires alumni Yale University alumni Argentine economists Argentine women economists 21st-century Argentine women politicians 21st-century Argentine politicians Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Buenos Aires Presidents of the Central Bank of Argentina