Mercedes Marcó del Pont

Mercedes Marcó del Pont
Born	(1957-08-28) August 28, 1957 Barrio Norte, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Occupation(s)	Economist, politician
Known for	President of the Central Bank of Argentina, National Deputy, head of the Federal Public Income Administration, Secretary of Strategic Affairs

Mercedes Marcó del Pont (born 28 August 1957) is an Argentine economist and political figure who has held the position of President at the Central Bank of Argentina. Her career also includes roles as a National Deputy, leader of the Federal Public Income Administration, and Secretary of Strategic Affairs during President Alberto Fernández's administration.

Early life and career

Marcó del Pont was born in Barrio Norte, Buenos Aires into a family with roots in Argentina dating back to 1785, originally from Catalonia. Early in her career, she identified with the centrist Integration and Development Movement (MID), a party promoting import substitution industrialization alongside foreign direct investment. She graduated with a degree in Economics from the University of Buenos Aires in 1982 and pursued postgraduate studies focusing on International and Development Economics at Yale University’s Economic Growth Center, completing them in 1987.

After returning to Argentina, she took on the role of senior researcher at the Development Research Foundation (FIDE), a think tank established by her cousin Octavio Frigerio. Beginning her public service journey in 1989, she served as chief advisor on petrochemical industry policy within the Economy Ministry’s Planning Secretariat. In 1991, she assumed the directorship of FIDE and spent the next ten years providing consultancy on statistical analysis and investment incentive policies for Buenos Aires city as well as provinces such as Buenos Aires and Misiones. Her research interests included local impacts of globalization, Latin American debt relief initiatives like the 1992 Brady Plan, exchange rate stability under the Convertibility Plan, and labor market trends.

In early 2002, Marcó del Pont briefly acted as chief policy advisor to Production Minister José Ignacio de Mendiguren and authored Crisis y Reforma Económica in 2004.

Political career

Marcó del Pont secured a seat in the Lower House of Congress representing the Front for Victory (FPV) during the 2005 mid-term elections. She backed Education Minister Daniel Filmus on the FPV's federal district party list for the Senate in the 2007 elections; however, the FPV did not win that contest.

Promoting monetary strategies aimed at fostering economic growth and employment expansion, she was appointed President of Banco Nación, Argentina’s largest state-owned commercial bank, in March 2008. Following disputes concerning President Cristina Kirchner’s utilization of foreign exchange reserves to redeem high-interest government bonds and the resignation of Central Bank President Martín Redrado in January 2010, Marcó del Pont was named President of the Central Bank of Argentina on February 3.

After President Alberto Fernández assumed office in 2019, she was designated head of the Administración Federal de Ingresos Públicos, Argentina’s federal tax authority. In 2022, she advanced to serve as Secretary of Strategic Affairs within the Presidential Office, succeeding Gustavo Béliz.

Personal life

Marcó del Pont is married to Jorge Cafferata, a well-known psychiatrist, and together they have three children. During the period from 1999 to 2002, while serving as a lecturer at the National University of Lomas de Zamora, she worked alongside developmental economist Aldo Ferrer and other scholars within the framework of Plan Fénix, advocating for a more equitable model of globalization.

• Argentine Central Bank
• Plan Fénix