Miguel Ángel Pesce

Miguel Ángel Pesce
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President of the Central Bank of Argentina
Incumbent
Assumed office 10 December 2019
President	Alberto Fernández
Preceded by	Guido Sandleris
Vice President of the Central Bank of Argentina
In office 24 September 2004 – 12 December 2015
Preceded by	Pedro Lacoste
Succeeded by	Lucas Llach
Personal details
Born	(1962-09-20) 20 September 1962 Mendoza Province, Argentina
Alma mater	University of Buenos Aires
Signature	Miguel Ángel Pesce's signature

Miguel Ángel Pesce (born 20 September 1962) is an Argentine economist, currently serving as president of the Central Bank of Argentina in the Alberto Fernández administration, since 2019. Pesce previously served as vice president of the Central Bank from 2004 to 2015, during the successive presidencies of Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.

Born in eastern Mendoza Province and a University of Buenos Aires graduate, Pesce served as General Comptroller of Argentina in 2004 and as Secretary of Finances in the Buenos Aires city government during the mayorship of Aníbal Ibarra. A member of the centrist Radical Civic Union (UCR), Pesce became a Kirchnerist UCR ally during Néstor Kirchner's 2003-07 presidency.

Tapped to head the Central Bank by newly-elected President Alberto Fernández in late 2019, Pesce initially cut benchmark interest rates, from 63% to 38%, in an effort of spur economic growth following a deep, two year recession.

Following severe economic fallout from the global COVID-19 crisis, with GDP falling by 9.9%, Argentina's economy rebounded by 10.4% in 2021 and 5.7% in January-April 2022. Inflation, however, remained stubbornly high - initially slowing from 54% in 2019 to 36% in 2020; but rising to over 60% by May 2022. The official exchange rate, moreover, doubled during Pesce's first 30 months in office to 130 pesos per dollar - while the parallel "blue" rate nearly quadrupled, to 270 pesos.