Gabriela Núñez

Gabriela Núñez Ennabe
Alma mater	Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras, University at Albany, SUNY
Occupation(s)	Economist, politician
Years active	1984–present
Known for	Minister of Finance of Honduras (1998–2002, 2009), President of the Central Bank of Honduras (2006–2007), Congresswoman, President of the Budget and Finance Committee

Gabriela Núñez Ennabe has held the position of Congresswoman and currently presides over the Budget and Finance Committee. She served two terms as Minister of Finance, first during the interim administration of Roberto Micheletti and earlier from 1998 to 2002 under President Carlos Roberto Flores. Additionally, she was the President of the Central Bank of Honduras between 2006 and 2007, and was a member of the board of directors at the IADB in Washington, D.C. from 1994 to 1996. Between 2010 and 2011, Núñez provided independent international consultancy services for both the World Bank and IADB.

Within the private sector, she held the role of Vice-President at Banco Atlántida and participated on the board of the Asociación de Instituciones Bancarias in Honduras. Núñez is also affiliated with the Inter-American Dialogue.

Background

In 1984, Núñez obtained her degree in Economics from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras. She later earned a Fulbright scholarship which enabled her to pursue a Master’s degree in International Economics at the University of New York at Albany, completed in 1989.

Career

Between 1985 and 1994, Núñez worked as a Financial Analyst at the Central Bank of Honduras. From 1993 to 1995, she fulfilled the role of Technical Secretary for the Economic Cabinet (UDAPE).

Her career advanced as she became Undersecretary of Finance from 1995 to 1996. Subsequently, from 1996 to 1998, she represented Honduras on the Executive Board of the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) and also served as Governor for Honduras at the IADB, International Monetary Fund, and World Bank.

During her tenure as Minister of Finance (1998–2002), Núñez was instrumental in overseeing Honduras’ external debt management, facilitating successful entry into the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative. In recognition of her leadership, CNN/Time included her among 50 Latin American Leaders for the New Millennium in 1999, and she was acknowledged by the World Economic Forum as a Global Leader for Tomorrow.

Núñez has an extensive academic background, having taught at UNAH from 1984 until 2000 and joining UNITEC’s faculty starting in 2009.

She returned to serve again as Minister of Finance in July 2009. Within her political party, she holds a prominent leadership role in the Liberal Party and was a candidate in its presidential primaries in 2005.