Ignacio Briones

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Briones and the second or maternal family name is Rojas.
Ignacio Briones Rojas
Minister of Finance of Chile
In office
11 March 2018 – 26 January 2021
PresidentSebastián Piñera
Preceded byFelipe Larraín Bascuñán
Succeeded byRodrigo Cerda
Personal details
Born (1972-12-12) 12 December 1972 (age 51)
Santiago, Chile
Political party Evópoli (2016–present)
SpouseFrancisca Cifuentes
Alma materPontifical Catholic University of Chile
Sciences Po

Ignacio Briones Rojas (born 12 December 1972) is a Chilean economist, scholar and politician who served as Minister of Finance in the second government of Sebastián Piñera from 2019 until 2021.[1][2][3][4] Prior to this appointment, Ignacio served as Dean of the School of Government of Adolfo Ibáñez University.

Early life and education

Briones is a commercial engineer, a graduate in Economics, Master in Economics and Political Sciences from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and Doctor in Political Economy from the Paris Institute of Political Studies.[5]

Early career

Briones worked as a professor and researcher at the School of Government and the Business School of the Adolfo Ibáñez University, focusing on areas such as Political Economy and Economic and Financial History. He has also been a consultant for the Inter-American Development Bank, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and companies such as VTR and the stock brokerage LarraínVial.

Political career

During the first government of Sebastián Piñera, Briones was the coordinator of International Finance of the Ministry of Finance, Director of Public Credit and Director of the Sovereign Funds of the Republic of Chile. In parallel, he was appointed as Executive Director of the Financial Stability Council, representative of Chile to the G20 in 2012 and Chilean Ambassador to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) during the period 2013–2014.

On October 28, 2019, Briones was appointed Minister of Finance, replacing Felipe Larraín in the second term of Sebastián Piñera, as part of a cabinet reshuffle after the 2019 protests which Chile experienced due to the perception of social policies promoted by successive governments since the return to democracy in 1990 and social inequality.[6] During his time in office, he spearheaded a $28 billion package of government aid to combat the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in Chile, which included income support for the poor and subsidies for job creation.[7][8] By mid-2020, opinion polls showed him to be the most popular member of the cabinet after Minister of Health Enrique Paris.[9]

In 2021, Briones stepped down from his government post and was replaced by Rodrigo Cerda.[10]

In 2021, Briones ran to be the presidential candidate of Chilevamos on the primary election under the wing of Evópoli, a conservative-liberal and centre-right party. He lost to Sebastian Sichel

Other activities

Trivia

Under the pseudonym Eugenio de la Cruz, Briones was a relentless gastronomic critic of the defunct magazine Cosas, for many years. They say that while he was studying in Paris, together with his friend Jorge Ferrando, “they got bitten” by restaurant critics.[14]

Football

He is supporter of Colo-Colo.[15]

References

  1. ^ "Ignacio Briones". Escuela de Gobierno (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2020-03-30. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
  2. ^ "Authors · Econ Journal Watch". econjwatch.org. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
  3. ^ "Ignacio Briones". Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2020-03-30.
  4. ^ ""Gracias": El chascarro en vivo durante conferencia de Ministro Briones". Radio Concierto (in Spanish). 2020-03-26. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
  5. ^ Michael Stott and Benedict Mander (July 1, 2020), Chile’s finance minister navigates coronavirus, recession and protests Financial Times.
  6. ^ Freixas, Meritxell. "Cinco claves para entender el estallido social en Chile". eldiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-03-30.
  7. ^ Aislinn Laing (June 14, 2020), Chilean congress agrees to $12 billion emergency coronavirus plan Reuters.
  8. ^ Michael Stott and Benedict Mander (July 1, 2020), Chile’s finance minister navigates coronavirus, recession and protests Financial Times.
  9. ^ Michael Stott and Benedict Mander (July 1, 2020), Chile’s finance minister navigates coronavirus, recession and protests Financial Times.
  10. ^ Aislinn Laing and Natalia Ramos (January 26, 2021), Chile President appoints Rodrigo Cerda as new finance minister Reuters.
  11. ^ Board of Governors Archived 2018-11-04 at the Wayback Machine Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC).
  12. ^ Board of Governors Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), World Bank Group.
  13. ^ Board of Governors World Bank.
  14. ^ "3. His Critics' Critic", Pascal the Philosopher, University of Toronto Press, pp. 71–91, 2013-12-31, doi:10.3138/9781442686991-005, ISBN 978-1-4426-8699-1
  15. ^ Márquez, Nicolás (17 July 2021). "Los candidatos presidenciales que son hinchas de la UC y Colo Colo". En Cancha. Retrieved 3 August 2021.