President-elect Keiko Fujimori arrived at the headquarters of the Central Reserve Bank (BCR) to ask the president of the monetary entity, Julio Velarde, to stay in office for one more period.
“In the new bicameral system, it is ratified that the Presidency of the Republic invites and proposes four members of the board of directors of the Central Reserve Bank of our country and within those four members, it is proposed who will preside over the Bank. I have come to ask you if you can accompany us for five more years,” said Fujimori during a press conference held at the end of a meeting between both figures.
The elected president met with the president of the BCR around 4 pm. at the Bank’s headquarters, in block 4 of Jirón Santa Rosa.
The president-elect stated that a response could be expected from the current president of the BCR in the following hours. However, the president of the BCR spoke about it at the same conference.
“I feel honored by the request that has been made to me, and yes, in other circumstances I might not have accepted. (But), I do accept with my best pleasure and I plan to dedicate myself as much as possible to fulfill the task that they are entrusting me with,” said the president of the BCR.
For his part, Fujimori commented that he did not expect such a quick response. “The truth is that I am very happy, Julio, for the clarity, firmness and way in which you have made this decision. It is great news for Peru,” he remarked during the conference.
Before the press conference, Fujimori participated in a private meeting with the banker, in which the macroeconomic projections and the situation of the economy in the face of the threat of the El Niño phenomenon were reviewed. Fujimori described the economic figures as optimistic.
“Of course, there is concern about the El Niño phenomenon and for that we are going to have to take all appropriate prevention measures to avoid greater disasters,” he added.
Julio Velarde chairs the BCR almost 20 years ago. In 2006 he was appointed by the government of Alan García and has been ratified by three other former presidents: Ollanta Humala, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and Pedro Castillo. This will be his fifth consecutive term.
During its management, the BCR has maintained one of the lowest inflation rates in Latin America, while its conduct of monetary policy has been recognized by various international organizations. This performance has also consolidated Velarde’s prestige among the world’s leading central bankers. In 2022, the international magazine The Banker, belonging to the Financial Times publishing group, distinguished him as Central America Banker of the Year 2022.
The official has a Master’s degree and PhD studies in Economics at Brown University (United States), Advanced Studies in Economics at the Institute of World Economy in Kiel (Germany) and completed his undergraduate studies in Economics at the Universidad del Pacífico.
He was president of the Intergovernmental Group of Twenty-Four Countries for International Monetary Affairs and Development (G24) in the period 2018-2019 and executive president of the Latin American Reserve Fund (FLAR) from 2004 to October 2006. Likewise, he held the positions of Director of the Central Reserve Bank of Peru, from 1990 to 1992 and from 2001 to 2003; and Dean of the Faculty of Economics of the Universidad del Pacífico, 2003.
