Maria Luís Albuquerque
Maria Luís Albuquerque (Braga, 1967) is a Portuguese politician.[1] She took office as Minister of State and Finance on the 2nd July 2013, replacing Vitor Gaspar.
She is married and has three children. She graduated in Economics in 1991 from Universidade Lusíada, in Lisbon, and holds a Masters degree (1997) in Monetary and Financial Economics from ISEG, Technical University of Lisbon.
She worked at the Directorate General of Treasury from 1996 to 1999; at the office of Higher Technical Studies and Economic Forecasts of the Ministry of Economy from 1999 to 2001 and as an advisor to the Secretary of State for Treasury and Finance in 2001. Between 2001 and 2007 she was Director of the Department of Financial Management of REFER, the railway infrastructure public company. From 2007 to 2011 she was Head of Issuing and Markets Department at the Portuguese Debt Management Agency. She was a lecturer at Universidade Lusíada between 1991 and 2006.
At the XIX Constitutional Government, Maria Luís Albuquerque became Secretary of State for Treasury and Finance between June 2011 and October 2012 and Secretary of State for Treasury between October 2012 and June 2013. In such capacity, she followed Eurogroup and Ecofin matters as alternate to the then Minister of State and Finance.
Her appointment was followed by the demission of the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Paulo Portas. Questions were raised after she denied that the Government had been informed about "swap" operations performed under the Government of Prime Minister José Sócrates, while the former Minister of Finance, Vitor Gaspar, admitted that he had been informed.