BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina will nominate economist and public official Cecilia Todesca Bocco as its candidate for the presidency of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a government source said on Friday, pitting her against others from Mexico and Brazil.
Todesca Bocco, 51, is currently Argentina’s secretary for international economic relations, and is part of the delegation accompanying President Alberto Fernandez in France on a tour to seek investment and export deals.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that the government will make a formal announcement on Friday afternoon.
Todesca Bocco, an economist from the University of Buenos Aires with a master’s degree in public administration from Columbia University in New York, will compete with Mexican Gerardo Esquivel and Brazilian candidate Ilan Goldfajn.
The president of the IDB is elected by its board of governors to serve a five-year term and must have the support of the lender’s member countries.
The election for Latin America’s largest development bank presidency will take place on Nov. 20. The IDB provided $23.4 billion in financing and other financial commitments in 2021.
The IDB’s former chief, Mauricio Claver-Carone, was dismissed in September after an investigation found he had had an intimate relationship with a subordinate.
(Reporting by Lucila Sigal and Eliana Raszewski; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
