Rodrigo Valdés
Rodrigo Valdés, a national of Chile, assumed the role of Director of the Fiscal Affairs Department (FAD) at the end of October 2025. Prior to this, he was a Director of Western Hemisphere Department. Earlier in his career, he was a professor of economics in the School of Government at the Catholic University of Chile and held the position of Chile's Minister of Finance from 2015 to 2017. Rodrigo also has impressive experience in the public and private sector and is highly respected as an academic. He spent more than 16 years in Chile's public sector serving in various leading positions both at the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank, where he was Director of Research and Chief Economist responsible for producing the Bank's Monetary Policy Report and overseeing macroeconomic analysis. He also served as deputy director in the WHD and EUR departments of the IMF. In the banking sector he worked at BTG Pactual, he headed the macroeconomic research team for Latin America excluding Brazil, and he was Board and Executive Committee President at Banco Estado, Chile's sole state-owned bank. He also worked at Barclays Capital in New York as Director and Chief Economist for Latin America. Rodrigo holds a PhD in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Chile.
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- Profile: Rodrigo Valdés
Contents
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The Energy Shock Is Testing Government Budgets
- Published: June 18, 2026
- Authors: Era Dabla-Norris, Christian Mumssen, Rodrigo Valdés, Daria Zakharova
- Summary: New policy tracker shows many governments pursuing costly responses to fuel and food price hikes, leaving less room to address future challenges
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Responding to the Energy and Food Price Shock: Getting the Policy Details Right
- Published: May 20, 2026
- Authors: Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, Borja Gracia, Delphine Prady, Rodrigo Valdés
- Summary: Governments can protect vulnerable households, keep businesses open, and preserve price signals without straining public finances
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War Shock Requires Disciplined Fiscal Reaction
- Published: April 15, 2026
- Authors: Krzysztof Bankowski, Natasha X Che, Era Dabla-Norris, Rodrigo Valdés
- Summary: Middle East conflict intensifies global uncertainty at a time of strained public finances, underscoring the need for policies that preserve future stability
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How the War in the Middle East Is Affecting Energy, Trade, and Finance
- Published: March 30, 2026
- Authors: Tobias Adrian, Jihad Azour, Nigel Chalk, Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, Alfred Kammer, Abebe Aemro Selassie, Krishna Srinivasan, Rodrigo Valdés
- Summary: Energy prices, supply chains, and financial markets are the main transmission channels, but the regional effects will vary significantly
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Why Latin America Needs Lower Deficits and Stronger Fiscal Rules
- Published: December 18, 2024
- Authors: Juan Passadore, Juan Pedro Treviño, Rodrigo Valdés
- Summary: The increase in debt in the last decade points to the need for lowering deficits, rebuilding space to deal with shocks, and strengthening fiscal rules
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Breaking Latin America’s Cycle of Low Growth and Violence
- Published: December 5, 2024
- Authors: Ilan Goldfajn, Rodrigo Valdés
- Summary: Crime directly costs the region more than 3 percent of GDP and lowers growth. Economic instability, in turn, drives higher rates of crime. Actions can be taken to break this vicious cycle.
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Trade Balances in China and the US Are Largely Driven by Domestic Macro Forces
- Published: September 12, 2024
- Authors: Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, Ceyla Pazarbasioglu, Krishna Srinivasan, Rodrigo Valdés
- Summary: Worries that China’s external surpluses result from industrial policies reflect an incomplete view
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Latin America's Shifting Demographics Could Undercut Growth
- Published: April 23, 2024
- Authors: Gustavo Adler, Rodrigo Valdés
- Summary: As the region’s population ages, boosting labor force participation and productivity will be key to aid economic growth and raise living standards.
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Latin America Can Boost Economic Growth by Reducing Crime
- Published: December 18, 2023
- Authors: Rafael Machado Parente, Rodrigo Valdés
- Summary: Reducing crime could significantly boost investment, productivity, and GDP growth in Latin America and the Caribbean
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Investments That Pay Off: Latin America’s Response to Recent Global Shocks
- Published: September 6, 2023
- Authors: Rodrigo Valdés
- Summary: The region, which successfully navigated economic turmoil, now must boost inclusive growth, reduce debt, and capitalize on new opportunities
Other formats
Source: https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/authors/rodrigo%20vald%C3%A9s