Guido Mantega

Who is Guido Mantega?

Guido Mantega is an Italian economist naturalized Brazilian, politician and currently Brazil's Finance Minister.

He graduated in Economics from the School of Economics, Business and Accounting of the University of São Paulo, he holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of São Paulo and is a professor of Economics at several leading universities of São Paulo.

He has long been associated with the left wing Workers' Party and was a key member in the successful presidential campaign of the party's founder and leader, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Upon Lula's access to power in 2003, Mantega was appointed Minister of Planning, and later chairman to BNDES.

On March 27, 2006 he was named Brazil's Finance Minister, replacing Antonio Palocci, who resigned in the wake of corruption charges.

In mid-2013, financial-markets commentator David Marsh wrote:

Developing-nation economic leaders such as Guido Mantega, Brazil’s outspoken finance minister — who two years ago accused the U.S. of launching “currency wars” through QE and a lower dollar, allegedly to steal a growth advantage — have had to change their tune.