MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico has nominated Mexican central bank board member Gerardo Esquivel for the presidency of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), four people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had previously said Alicia Barcena, former head of the United Nation’s regional economic body, would be the country’s candidate for the role.
Headquartered in Washington, the IDB is a key investor in Latin America and the Caribbean. It was responsible for $23.4 billion in financing and other financial commitments in 2021.
The IDB had no comment on the report.
Esquivel, 56, is regarded as perhaps the most doveish member of the board of the Bank of Mexico (Banxico), and his term there is currently scheduled to conclude in December.
Still, Esquivel could potentially be asked to stay on at Banxico. His nomination to lead the IDB would not preclude that possibility were the bid to be unsuccessful, a Mexican official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Esquivel is a respected academic with a profound understanding of the challenges involved in combating poverty in Latin America, the official said.
It was unclear why Mexico had changed tack on Barcena, who was only recently appointed as Mexican ambassador to Chile.
Former IDB president Mauricio Claver-Carone, the only American president in the bank’s history, was fired in September after an investigation showed he had an intimate relationship with a subordinate, Reuters exclusively reported.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal in Washington, Dave Graham and Cassandra Garrison in Mexico City and Jorgelina do Rosario in London)
