José de Gregorio

José de Gregorio Rebeco (August 17, 1959) is a Chilean economist and —from 2007 to 2011— the Governor of the Central Bank of Chile. He was formerly Vice-Governor from December 2003, and member of the Bank's Board from June 2001.

De Gregorio has a degree in civil engineering and a master’s degree in engineering from the University of Chile (1984), where he received the Marcos Orrego Puelma award for the best graduate for his year. He obtained a doctorate (PhD) in Economics in 1990 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

De Gregorio has published widely in international academic reviews and books on issues including stabilization policies, foreign exchange regimes and economic growth. He has served as a referee for several academic journals and is an associate editor with the journals International Tax and Public Finance and Latin American Economic Review. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association (Lacea) and was co-director of the organizing committee for the annual Lacea meeting in 1999.

From March 2000 to June 2001, de Gregorio was a “tri-minister”, acting as the minister of the combined portfolios of the Economy, Mining and Energy, as president of the National Energy Commission. During this period he also served as president on the boards of the state-owned companies, Codelco, Enap and Enami, and president of the Corfo and Cochilco boards.

De Gregorio is a full professor at the University of Chile (on leave). In 1997 and 2000 he was professor and head of post-graduate programs at the Center of Applied Economics at the University of Chile, where he has taught macroeconomics and international economics since 1994. He also served on the executive of the Latin American Doctoral Program in Economics, carried out jointly by Mexico’s ITAM, Torcuato di Tella University, Argentina, and the University of Chile.

From 1994 to 1997, de Gregorio coordinated economic policy within the Chilean Ministry of Finance.

From 1990 to 1994 de Gregorio worked as an economist in the research department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), where he also participated in missions to Guyana, Spain and Italy. He has worked as a consultant for international organizations (IMF, World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank and United Nations) and foreign companies. He was a visiting researcher at the IMF and the World Bank, and visiting professor at the Anderson School, University of California - Los Angeles. From 1983 to 1986 he was a researcher at the Corporación de Investigaciones Económicas para Latinoamérica (Corporation for Latin American economic research), Cieplan.

De Gregorio was chosen as "The Best Central Bank President in Latin America for 2008" in a poll taken among bankers and economists by British magazine "The Banker", which belongs to the journalism conglomerate of the Financial Times.[1]

References

Political offices
Preceded by
Vittorio Corbo
Governor of Central Bank
2007 - 2011
Succeeded by
Rodrigo Vergara