Diego Borja

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Diego Borja Cornejo is an Ecuadorian economist and politician. He was born in Quito, Ecuador, on May 1, 1964. He was elected member of the National Constitutional Assembly on September 30, 2007.

1 Political Leader
2 Minister of Economy and Finance
3 Professional and Academic Experience
4 Academic Studies
5 Author of books on development and competitiveness
6 Related links
7 References

[edit] Political Leader

Diego Borja is National President of the "Movimiento Poder Ciudadano" (Citizen's Power movement). He was elected on September 30, 2007, as a member of the National Constitutional Assembly, as a candidate of the alliance between the social-democratic "Izquierda Democrática" (Party of the Democratic Left), the Poder Ciudadano Movement, and two other democratic socialist movements, "Acuerdo Democrático" and "Nuevo Acuerdo Nacional".^[1]

Diego Borja was elected as the first candidate in the Province of Pichincha, which includes the capital city of Quito.

Before forming "Movimiento Poder Ciudadano", Diego Borja was a national leader of "Movimiento Nuevo País" (New Country Movement), where he was an adviser to Presidential candidate Freddy Ehlers, as well as alternate representative from Ecuador to the Andean Parliament.

[edit] Minister of Economy and Finance

Diego Borja served as Minister of Economy and Finance of the Republic of Ecuador from December 28, 2005 to July 7, 2006.

Under his leadership, a reform of the Hydrocarbons Law (Ley de Hidrocarburos) was enacted, in order to recover for the Ecuadorian state 50% of the revenues produced by private oil companies. Before this legal reform, some private oil companies were contributing as little as 18% of their revenues to the public sector, and earning profits of as much as 250% per year on their investments.

During his tenure, the Minister of Energy and Mines, Iván Rodríguez, decreed the expiration (caducidad) of the contract with the Occidental Petroleum Co., which was producing 100,000 barrels per day. The expiration was due to repeated violations of the contract and the Hydrocarbons Law. Minister Diego Borja was appointed to a high-level Commission to oversee the transfer and operation of the oil fields that were previously operated by Occidental Petroleum, and was instrumental in creating the administrative unit formed to operate these fields.

Other key accomplishments of his tenure were the repurchase of $740 million of high interest rate bonds (Ecuador Global 2012, paying 12% annual interest), as well as a reduction in the overall public external debt stock (both in absolute terms, and also as a percentage of GDP, which fell below the target of 30% of GDP). Inflation and unemployment also fell during this period, and a projected fiscal deficit of 0.8% of GDP was reverted to a fiscal surplus of 1.4% of GDP. Economic growth was also significant, both in the oil and non-oil sectors.

Minister Borja organized the CEREPS oil fund, to establish priorities in public sector investment, directing these funds towards infrastructure investment, the oil and electric sectors, education, health and the environment.

When Diego Borja denounced that a change had been made to the regulations of the Hydrocarbons Law, in order to attempt to benefit the foreign oil companies, the chief of staff (Jose Modesto Apolo) asked for Diego Borja's resignation. Subsequently, when Diego Borja denounced Mr. Apolo's role in this controversial change to the regulations, Mr. Apolo also resigned his office.^[2]

As Minister of Economy and Finance, Diego Borja was named Governor of the Andean Development Corporation (CAF), the Inter-American Development Bank, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development or World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund.

[edit] Professional and Academic Experience

Before becoming Minister of Economy and Finance, Diego Borja had held important positions in the public, private and academic sectors, including having served as Executive Director of the Flower Producers and Exporters Association (Expoflores); having been a consultant on competitiveness and productivity for several institutions; and having been a professor and lecturer at several universities.

He was also elected alternate member of the Andean Parliament, and was a key adviser to Presidential candidate Freddy Ehlers. He was also President of the Catholic Student Federation (Federación de Estudiantes Universitarios Católicos del Ecuador-Quito, FEUCE-Q).

[edit] Academic Studies

He has a Master's degree from the Catholic University of Louvain; and the degree of Economist from the Catholic University of Ecuador, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador.

[edit] Author of books on development and competitiveness

He is author of the book Opting for the Present. New Economy for a New Country (Optar por el Presente. Nueva Economía para un Nuevo País), published in 2005; as well as studies on competitiveness and enhancing productivity in Ecuador.